Feathers and Blades
by Heza-chan X3
Summary: Team 8 didnt know what they were getting into when they brought back the two strange girls to their camp. But after trying to steal from team 8 the two are being brought back to Konoha and one is headed to Suna. Who are these girls? GaaraOC ShinoOC
1. Chapter 1

Hello everyone! Welcome to chapter 1 of Feathers and Blades! This story is by Heza-chan x3 and Flowerpuff! You may know us by the story Naruto Truth or Dare: My Way!! Please enjoy the first chappie!!!!! Pairings revealed in later chapters!

Disclaim: We don't own Naruto! But we shall buy Shino and Gaara!!!

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Magen P.O.V.

A large dog sniffed the air and barked something to his master. "A cold front is coming in." Said his master. "We should set up camp and start a fire."

A stoic boy with sun glasses nodded. "Hinata…" He turned to his team-mate, who was regularly shy and stuttered often. "Do you mind getting some firewood?"

The bashful girl shook her head. "I don't mind." She smiled warmly and went off to start her wood searching journey. But firewood wasn't the only thing she would be coming back with.

---

"I am soooo hungry" Whined Mitsuki. "Do we have any food left?"

I rolled my eyes. "No. We ran out of the food that we collected in the small village remember?" I asked her. "You ate the rest last night."

"Oh." Mitsuki didn't recall this, but either way, they were out of food, and she was hungry. "Well, where is the nearest village? I could really go for some dumplings right now." She added with a lick of her lips.

"Well…" I pulled out my trusty map. "It says here that we are getting close to the leaf village." With my index finger I pointed at a large green area that circled a small sketch of a village.

Mitsuki twitched. "Leaf village you say?"

"Yup… but that will take us about a day. Could you last a day of hunger?" I asked teasingly. I already knew that answer.

"No! Are you kidding me?" She groaned. "What are we going to do then?"

I thought this situation over. Peering at my map again, I came up with an idea. "It says here that a large path is nearby. I bet a lot of people walk on it during the day." I pointed to a snake like path that weaved through crappy drawn trees.

"Duh." Mitsuki said matter-of-factly. "So?"

I folded up my map and slipped it into my pocket. "I got an idea how we could get some food, and some money if we are lucky."

"Ooo." Mitsuki liked the sound of this. "What's the idea?"

I cracked my knuckles then rubbed my hands together, getting them warm. "Stand back." I said.

Mitsuki obeyed.

I raised my thumb up to my mouth and bit down on the skin. A bead of blood trickled out and I smeared the red liquid across my palm. Then as quickly as I could, I formed hand signs, moulding my chakra. Then I threw my palm to the ground. "Summoning jutsu!" I shouted.

A puff of smoke emerged from my hand and rose up and around me. Then once the smoke cleared, a large white tiger stood in its place.

"Kira." I breathed. "It's been a while."

The large white tiger shook its head irritably. Kira hasn't been summoned in a while and her master should have picked a better time to summon it. Kira was just minding its own business, batting around her still living rabbit, which was just about to become her lunch, when suddenly she disappeared in a puff of smoke. The rabbit was happy about that.

Kira's large, yellow eyes absorbed in the surroundings. "Yes it has." She spoke. "What do you want?"

I brushed the dirt from my palm. "I got an idea, and we need your help."

---

Mitsuki P.O.V.

"So you know the plan Kira?" I asked, petting the annoyed tiger affectionately. Kira turned and ran off into the night. I giggled. "I'll take that as a yes!" Magen looked over at me and shook her head.

"How you always manage to get Kira not to totally kill you is a mystery even to me." I laughed along with Magen, waiting for Kira's signal, or rather the signal from the victim of Kira's attack.

"Hey, when are we going to actually stay at a village Magen?" I asked suddenly. Magen quirked an eyebrow at me. "Since when have you ever wanted to stay at a village? You know they'll kick us out or have us killed." We both sighed, knowing that sadly what Magen had just said was the truth.

"I know." I said quietly. "I'm just getting tired of hurting everyone who helps us." Magen didn't respond, but I had a feeling she was thinking about what I had just said. I looked at the watch Magen had stolen awhile back and saw that it fifteen minutes had passed already.

"You know, it never takes Kira this long to find someone." I stated. Magen nodded. "Yeah, but she's looking for someone special. Someone who we know will be kind enough to let us visit their camp for a meal." My stomach groaned at the mention of food and Magen and I started laughing again.

"Magen." I said, after ten more minutes had passed. She looked over at me, away from the path. "What Mitsuki?" My stomach groaned again. "I'm hungry." She rolled her eyes and was about to say something when we heard a loud scream. Magen grinned and I sighed.

"Showtime."

---

Magen and I rushed upon the scene where a large white tiger was attacking a raven haired girl. I did some hand seals and pulled out some oddly pure white senbon.

"Shiro kouu: White rain!" I shouted making the tiger halt and the raven haired girl stop trying to fight it. I threw one of my senbon up in the air, and it multiplied, and went raining down on the tiger. The tiger was hit and went down. Magen and I ran towards it, but it jumped us, throwing us into the woods nearby. It followed and stopped moving, glaring at me.

"A little closer there Mitsuki and I wouldn't be able to yell at you right now." I grinned sheepishly.

"Sorry Kira! I'm just REALLY hungry!" Magen sighed and flicked me upside the head.

"OW!" I shouted. Magen smirked. "What, you deserved it." I pouted and turned to Kira. "Kira! Magen's being mean to me again!" The tiger chuckled and turned its head a bit.

"Girls, not to rush you or anything, but we have company coming. The girl. She was a ninja, and not just any ninja a Hyuuga. She'll be able to see through any genjutsu that you may use."

I looked down for a second, my always happy demeanor disappearing only for a minute.

"I know."

Magen patted my arm, and Kira disappeared, probably going back to find her unfinished lunch. I smiled, my always happy attitude reappearing. The girl approached us, a worried look in her eye.

"Are you two alright?! Where'd that tiger go?!" She asked quickly but quietly. I pointed in a random direction.

"It ran off. It probably saw you coming and didn't want it to be three against one." Magen nodded. The girl smiled at us.

"My name is Hinata. Is there any way I can thank you for helping me?" My stomach growled, and I giggled. Magen smirked.

"I can think of one way."

---

Well ladies and gents there she is, chapter 1!! I hope you liked it, you can expect more after five reviews, so please review! We're just writing for the fun of it so back off with the flames, they BURN!!!!! Thanks for reading! Ja ne!


	2. Chapter 2

Hello everyone! Welcome to chapter 2 of Feathers and Blades! This story once again is by Heza-chan x3 and Flowerpuff! You may know us by the story Naruto Truth or Dare: My Way!! Please enjoy the second chappie!!!!!

---

Kiba sat impatiently on a log that he has been using for a seat for a while now. He shifted and squirmed in his seat. Hinata has been gone for a long time and he was starting to get worried about her. The sun has set and darkness engulfed the little clearing that was their temporary camp. Kiba looked over to his teammate with a worried expression. "I say we go look for her. She might have gotten hurt or attacked or… or she could have fallen down a cliff…" Kiba shivered at the horrible thoughts that came to his mind about his lost teammate.

Shino got to his feet and stepped back, admiring his masterpiece. Shino had pitched up a large, green tent, with no help from Kiba he might add. He also built a small circle of rocks in the center of the camp for the future fire that will be built once Hinata returned. "Don't worry." He told Kiba once again. "Hinata is a tough girl; she can take care of herself."

This was true, but Kiba was still not persuaded until finally his companion, Akamaru, stood to his feet and stared at the darkness in the trees in front of him. He got into his defense position and growled, baring his teeth. Something was coming and it didn't smell friendly.

Hearing this, Kiba got to his feet as well and followed Akamaru's stare, a few seconds later, Hinata emerged from the shadows. "Hinata!" Kiba sighed with relief but Akamaru continued to growl.

"What?" Kiba looked down at the hound. Apparently something or someone was behind Hinata. "Hinata look out!" He called out to her.

Hinata seemed unfazed by this; in fact she smiled at this. "Don't worry Kiba. These two saved my life." She said as two silhouettes appeared behind her. Hinata carried the logs in her arms to the circle of rocks Shino created. Kiba walked over, without taking his eyes off the two mysterious figures, and started a fire.

Once the fire was lit, the faces of the strangers came into view.

They were two girls, around the same ages of the others. The taller, but still sort of short girl of the two had long black hair down to the middle of her back, bangs hanging in front of her purple eyes which glimmered in the newly built fire. She wore a pink Chinese style top with a golden dragon on the front, the tail wrapping around her figure. She also wore brown pants that sat just below her knees. She had kunai and shuriken holders on each of her legs, the larger on her right leg, but nothing else they could see that would hold a weapon. She had an old key on a chain hanging around her neck, and a ring on her pinky, the ring had a small emblem on it.

The girl next to her was slightly shorter and had shorter hair as well. Her black hair sat above her shoulders and she wore a bulgy, white, winter-like hat. She had pail, yellow eyes that stared straight ahead. She wore a grey dress that went down to her knees and had two slits on each side that went right up to her hips. She wore skin tight, black shorts underneath. Around her waist was a black belt with two sheaths hanging off of it to the side. In each sheath was a hilt to a sword, one with black metal and the other with white and had two small red ribbons tied around the handle that fell to the side of the sheath. She also wore fingerless, black gloves and around her neck was a small golden, heart shaped locket with a silver chain.

---

Magen's P.O.V.

The first thing I noticed when I walked into this tiny clearing in the woods was the giant, white dog baring his teeth at me. I shot him a glare to show him some domination and he coward away behind his master's legs, keeping his eyes on mine.

I looked away and started to study the others. The master to the hound was tall and had two red triangles on his cheeks. The boy beside him hid most of his face. He wore a hood and a tall, black collar that covered half of his features. He also wore dark sunglasses that glinted in the light.

"They saved your life Hinata?" Asked the hound boy who gave us a skeptical look.

Hinata nodded. "Yes, it was quite frightening. A giant white tiger jumped out from the bushes and was about to attack when these two girls came to my rescue." She explained, gesturing toward us.

Mitsuki gave proud thumbs up. "No problem, just think of us as two really cool super heroes." Her stomach growled. "Really cool super heroes that are hungry." She added quickly. "You guys got food?"

I flicked her in the side of the head. "Don't be so forward." I hissed. I then cleared my throat and began to gain their trust. "Hi my name is Magen and this is Mitsuki, it was no problem saving your friend here, we just do what we can." I added with a fake smile.

"My name is Hinata and this is Kiba and Shino." Hinata pointed to each of her teammates.

"No wonder you smell like cat then." Said Kiba who was now sniffing the air around us.

I twitched. "Excuse me?"

"Well you said you fought off that tiger right? Well the smell is all over you two, especially you…" He walked up closer to me.

I scowled and leaned away from him. Nosey bastard.

"Yea I guess we do, don't we." Mitsuki sniffed her arm. "They smell funny don't they?" She quickly regretted what she said as she felt my glare. "Err… so what's to eat?"

"Oh right!" Hinata turned and searched through her bag, later she pulled out two loafs of bread. "Sorry but this is all that we can spare." She said with a frown.

"Perfect! Thanks!" Mitsuki grinned and ate her bread contently. 

"A white tiger…" Shino finally spoke. "That is strange; they aren't native to these parts…"

I tried to look surprised. "Really? Well that is strange."

---

I stared at the flames in front of me as we sat around the fire. The flames danced and cracked as if mocking me. I quickly looked away and stared up at the team who were studying us carefully. "So… where are you guys heading?" I asked.

"Oh we were just coming back from our mission. We are ninjas from Konoha." Kiba said proudly.

"Ninjas? Really?" Mitsuki looked at them with awe. "You guys are heading towards Konoha? Well what a coincidence! So are we. We are going to gather supplies."

Hinata gasped. "Really? Well why don't you travel with us?" She looked over to Shino. "If that's okay."

Shino hesitated before slowly nodding, his eyes were hidden but I could sense his stare. He didn't trust us, yet.

"That's very generous of you." I said. "It is nice to make new friends on a journey."

Mitsuki nodded in agreement.

"Unfortunately, it's only us two. It's been that way for a while…" I added with a frown. The best way to earn trust is to make the person pity us. Time to tell a sad story.

"Really?" Hinata frowned.

I nodded. "We are both orphans, and we met each other a long time ago. We have never left each others sides since." I smiled at Mitsuki.

"That's a sad story." Hinata sighed. "But it's good that you two are such good friends."

Kiba nodded. "That sounds just like Akamaru and I." He scratched behind his dog's ear.

"He is so cute." Mitsuki studied the dog with her eyes glazed over. Akamaru smiled from the attention he was getting.

This was taking to long. I stretched my arms to the sky and yawned loudly. "Man I'm tired." 

Just as I planned, the yawn was contagious, and soon everyone yawned loudly and their eyes became heavy. Everyone except Shino.

---

The moon sat in the middle of the sky. I stared at the large dented saucer patiently; it was now time to go. I pulled myself up into a sitting position in my sleeping bag and poked Mitsuki. She squirmed in her sleeping bag and pulled it up over her head. "Five more minutes…" She mumbled into the fabric.

I rolled my eyes and gave her a jab in the ribs. She sat bolt up right staring into the night with bleary eyes. "Wah? What is it?"

I got out of my sleeping bag as quiet as I could and started to roll it up. "Common sleepy head. Its time."

Mitsuki finally snapped out of her sleepy daze and rolled up her sleeping bag as well. Once we packed them away we got to our feet. "Right… their bags are in the tent… this will be difficult." I said.

I tiptoed toward their tent and unzipped the flap slowly and quietly. I reached into the tent and pulled out two bags. Then as stealthy as I could I tiptoed back over towards the fire where Mitsuki waited patiently and nervously.

I placed the bags on the ground and started to search through them. Mitsuki chewed her nails nervously, starting to get second thoughts. "I don't think we should do this…" She whispered.

"Why not? Oh a wallet!"

"They were so nice to us…"

"So? This is survival. We need supplies, so we get supplies. It's their own fault for being such crappy ninjas."

"Crappy ninjas eh?"

I tensed up and looked up at Mitsuki. She stared with fear over towards the tent. I slowly got to my feet and turned around. There I faced Kiba, Shino, Akamaru, and Hinata who were standing in front of the tent. Hinata frowned but Kiba looked pissed.

"I knew we shouldn't have trusted you two!" He shouted, pointing a finger at us, Akamaru growled.

"Well then that was your mistake." I said calmly, my hand hovering over the white handle of one of my swords.

"Don't point it's rude." Mitsuki crossed her arms, her feared expression turned into amusement. This was going to be fun.

"Drop what ever you stole and surrender. We will take you back to Konoha where you will be dealt with." Shino demanded.

"No." I said boredly.

Kiba clenched his fists. "No? You have no idea who you're dealing with do you?"

Mitsuki giggled. I sighed. "A Hyuuga, an Aburame, and an Inuzuka." I named off each of their clans while studying my nails.

Kiba twitched. "Ya well we can still kick your butt, even if you do know our clans."

"Kiba calm down." Shino said calmly himself. "We have no idea what these girls can do. I assume one of them summoned that tiger, so who knows what else they are capable of."

I smirked. "Very smart of you. Well we can show you if you want… Mitsuki?" 

Mitsuki grinned. "With pleasure." Then in one quick motion of her arm, a gust of wind shot towards the four.

The wind was so strong it stung their faces; they raised their arms over their face to shield it. "What is this?!" Shouted Kiba.

But then the wind cleared and they lowered their arms to see an empty area in front of them. The girls vanished.

---

Well ladies and gents there she is, the lovely chapter 2!! Praying you liked it, you can expect more after five reviews, so review pwetty pwease! They make us happy!!!! We're just writing for the fun of it so back off with the flames, they BURN!!!!! Thanks for reading! Ja ne!


	3. Chapter 3

Hello everyone and welcome to chapter 3 of Feathers and Blades, a Naruto fanfic by Flowerpuff and Heza-chan X3!!!!!!!!!!!!! We hope you enjoy this and forgive us for the delay in posting it up!!

Disclaim: We don't own Naruto. Which makes us cry.

---

Aswe ran through the trees Mitsuki laughed. "That was fun! Let's do it again some time."

I smiled and shook my head. It was all too easy, and we got some money out of it too. But then our smiles disappeared when suddenly we stopped in our tracks, unable to move.

"What the…" I looked down to see an army of bugs crawl up my legs. I looked over to see the same with Mitsuki. Mitsuki trembled.

"Bugs… crawling… on me. Ewww." She tried to swipe them off but was unable to move her arms. She looked over to see more insects crawling up her arms and onto her shoulders.

I suddenly felt my energy drain from me. These blasted insects were sucking my chakra! This was all because of the damn Aburame kid, which appeared in front of us with his two teammates.

"Ha! You got them Shino!" Kiba patted Shino on the back with a huge grin of triumph. "You guys thought you could get away? Nice try."

Mitsuki looked over to me, waiting for an order. But we both knew we could do nothing at this moment. So in defeat I bowed my head, but already I was concocting a plan for tomorrow.

---

Mitsuki P.O.V.

Magen and I sat on a couple of rocks while Shino and Kiba packed their things. Hinata stood watching us, I felt her eyes on me and I looked up.

"What?"

Magen looked over at me from her glaring contest with Akamaru. Hinata looked confused and stared at me even closer.

"Do I know you?" She asked quietly. My eyes widened, she couldn't possibly…! I shook my head violently. "How would I know you? I've been wandering since I was young. There's no way. Nope, none at all!" I replied quickly, laughing nervously until Magen jabbed her finger into my side, indicating that I needed to shut up.

"Are you sure?" Hinata asked again. I shook my head again. Kiba walked up behind her and tapped her on the shoulder.

"Hinata, we're ready. Let's go." Kiba said. Hinata nodded and walked off to get her bag. Kiba turned to us and frowned.

"It's a two…" He started but Magen and I interrupted. "A two day trip, yeah we know." Kiba glared at us and as he walked away, Shino's bugs guiding us after him, he turned towards Akamaru and whispered to him.

"Stupid cat smelling girls. Think they know everything."

Sadly for him though we heard him and we both smirked and stuck our tongues out at him. He turned around and we quickly looked away, whistling innocently. He turned back around and Magen and I started laughing, making all three of the Konoha ninja turn to stare at us. Magen and I looked at Kiba, and then back at each other and started laughing again.

---

That night as the others slept, Kiba guarding us, Magen and I rolled to our sides to talk.

"Magen. I can't go there, you know that right?" I asked quietly, glancing at the dog lover to make sure he hadn't heard me. If he did he didn't show it. Magen nodded.

"I know Mitsuki. But how are we gonna get out of this one? I mean you said it yourself not to long ago that you wanted to settle down, you know, live in a hidden village?" She said. My eyes widened.

"Not Konoha!" I whispered rather loudly.

"SHHHH!" Magen hissed at me, both of us turning a little to see if Kiba had heard me. He was off in a daze, not really paying to much attention to us. Magen and I rolled back over.

"You know we could always just get up and walk away; we can handle a few bugs." I said quietly. Magen nodded. "Okay, let's try it shall we?" Magen and I both started to get up when I felt a lot of weight on me. I looked up to see Kiba sitting on me, Akamaru sitting on Magen.

"So, thought you could get away eh?" Kiba asked smirking. I rolled my eyes. "Well that's kind of obvious. Now could you get off of me?" Magen was trying to get Akamaru off her too.

"Yeah really, the smell of dog is suffocating me!" She said glaring at Kiba. Kiba glared back at her and I sighed.

"Well this is pleasant."

Suddenly Magen's eyes lit up, I could tell she had an idea and I smiled at her.

"Hey Mitsuki, why don't you sing us to sleep? I have trouble falling asleep with a dog on me, so maybe that will help!" She said, grinning at me. I looked at her like she was an idiot and she winked at me. It clicked in my mind what was going on; I was to sing the dog and dog lover to sleep. I smirked.

"Okey doke then!"

I watched Magen take a small pouch of sleeping powder out of her pocket and throw it into the air. Kiba yawned soon after, along with Akamaru. I started humming a lullaby, and it wasn't long before dog and master had fallen asleep, sadly still on top of us.

We slowly pushed them off of us and got up. Bugs surrounded us, and Magen and I quickly made clones of each of us. The clones lay back down, and the bugs halted. They seemed confused, and we were going to take advantage of that. We both made the proper hand signs and our one of a kind cloaking jutsu activated. It only lasted for a short time so we had to get out of there fast.

"So, shall we escape like ninja in the night?" I joked. Magen smirked and we both jumped over to the edge of the forest. We leapt onto a branch and grinned, and tore off into the night.

---

"Kiba. Wake up."

Kiba opened his eyes, blinking several times, and sat up. He looked around and noticed he was on the ground.

"Huh? Dude where's my dog?" Akamaru yipped beside him, and Kiba picked him up, and then stood up himself. He looked around in the dark for the two girls and realized…they were gone!

"Hey where'd they go?! Bathroom break?" Kiba asked. Shino didn't say anything. Kiba grinned stupidly.

"Alright let's see. The last thing I remember is the one girl saying that she couldn't go to Konoha, probably cause she'll get in trouble, then they said they were just gonna get up and leave cause I was stupid and not paying attention." Shino sighed.

"Kiba, you are stupid and you weren't paying attention because they did just get up and leave! Why didn't you stop them?"

"I did! I sat on them; Akamaru did to, right boy?" Akamaru barked a yes. "Anyways, then um I think her name was Magen, she said that she needed Mitsuki to…sing her…to sleep…" Suddenly what happened clicked in Kiba's mind. "They tricked me!" He shouted.

"Well then, should we go after them?" Hinata said emerging from her tent. Kiba and Shino quirked an eyebrow at her.

"Should we?"

"Well, it's just, they seemed so nice, and I could have sworn I knew Mitsuki from somewhere, and they probably just did it because they had too! Do we have to turn them in?" Hinata asked. Kiba sighed.

"Look Hinata, they acted nice so they could steal from us! And you probably know Mitsuki because she's a wanted girl! So yeah Hinata, seeing as they're thieves, we kinda have to turn them in!" He said loudly. Hinata looked sad.

"Fine. Then let's go." Shino and Kiba nodded, Akamaru barking twice. Hinata turned to the woods.

"Byakugan!"

---

Howdy!!! Thanks for reading this chapter!! PLEASE review, they make us smile!!!!!!! Stay tuned for next time, until then ja ne!!!!!!!!!


	4. Chapter 4

Here's chapter 4! Sorry its taken so long, I've had some stuff goin on in my life and haven't had time.

Disclaim: We are dissing the claim, we don't own Naruto.

This is a Flowerpuff/Heza-chan X3 production.

---

"So do we make a left or a right?" I asked. Magen shrugged. I sweatdropped. 'How do we end up not lost with our fabulous senses of direction?' I grinned.

"When in doubt…" I started. "We flip a coin!" Magen finished grinning with me. Magen pulled out a small coin that she had and threw it high up in the air.

"Heads we go left, tails we go right." I nodded in agreement.

"Call it." She said.

"Tails!"

The coin came back down and landed on tails. She put her coin away and we headed to the right. We jumped down from the trees into a clearing with a small lake. I squealed, finally water!

"Yay!" I shouted and jumped into the water in my clothes. Magen rolled her eyes.

"Mitsuki! Now we're going to have to dry you're clothes out!"

I pouted, and Magen rolled her eyes at me again. I smiled and threw my outer clothes up onto dry land. I had already had my swim wear on under my outfit. As I swam a heavy gust of wind blew on my clothes, drying them out completely.

Magen stood on shore and studied the surroundings. "How long do you think before they get here?" Magen asked suddenly. I shrugged.

"Umm…probably soon. Do we have to leave?" I asked. Magen sighed and nodded, and I got out of the water, gathering up my clothes.

---

"Kiba do you smell them?" Shino asked. Kiba nodded. "They went to the right here." Shino sent a small army of bugs towards the left, just incase the two girls had tricked them again. The small group headed to the right, Hinata activating the byakugan again.

"Hinata do you see anything?" Kiba asked. Hinata nodded. "I see a lake up ahead. They might have stopped there."

The group headed further still, finally going into the clearing. They looked around for any trace of the girls, and found only one thing. A small ring with a Konoha symbol on it. Hinata picked it up and stared at it. She felt as if she had seen it before, but she knew that wasn't possible. It must've belonged to one of the girls, but they probably stole it.

"Shino. I found something." Hinata said handing him the ring. Shino had one of his bugs get the scent, along with Kiba, and they took off after the escaped prisoners again. As they moved along Hinata kept thinking of the ring. Where had she seen it before?

"Hinata, is something wrong?" Shino's voice brought Hinata out of her thoughts. She nodded.

"The ring. I can't help feeling like I've seen it before." Kiba smiled at his female teammate.

"Of course you have silly, it was one of the girls they were probably wearing it!" Hinata shook her head.

"No. Before that. I feel like I've seen it in my past." The three were interrupted by a loud scream not to far from them. They looked at each other and nodded, and headed towards the scream.

---

Magen's P.O.V

I starred at her in bewilderment. Mitsuki frantically moved around, searching on the ground, mumbling to herself and cursing under her breath. This was very unusual, especially when a group of ninjas were after us and Mitsuki yells at the top of her lungs. What was going on?

"Mitsuki why did you yell?" I scolded. "Now they will find us for sure!"

Mitsuki ignored this and continued to search the ground. "Where the hell is it? No this couldn't have happened. Damn it." She hissed.

I clenched my teeth. This was no time for a treasure hunt. "Mitsuki we have to get out of here! We already wasted enough time when you went for a swim."

But then it was too late. Off in the distance, around 30 meters away I estimated, was the group of ninjas and that damned mutt. They were coming, and they were moving fast. As quickly as I could, I rushed over to the cursing Mitsuki and grabbed her shoulder, and then I dashed off into the trees, dragging her behind me.

"Magen! Stop! I need to find my ring!" Mitsuki yelled at me as she tried to get free from my grasp. She tripped over her feet, unable to balance herself as she tried to run at my pace. "Damn it Magen! SLOW DOWN!"

I tried to ignore her, keeping my eyes in front of me. The last thing we wanted is for me to trip.

"There they are!" I heard the cry of the dog lover boy. They were around 20 meters away. This wasn't good. I turned my attention to Mitsuki, my eyes still straight ahead.

"Mitsuki, snap out of it!" I ordered. "Do you want to go to Konoha as a prisoner?"

Mitsuki went silent. I took that as a no. With a roll of my eyes, I quickened my pace, which was a great discomfort of Mitsuki, who started to trip over her feet. "Magen - could you – just - Magen slow down!"

I didn't need to slow down because instead my foot caught in a root of a tree that sat out of the ground in a loop. I felt my body fall forward as if in slow motion. In this action, I brought Mitsuki down with me. We tumbled down to the ground, doing summersaults at a high speed.

I dug my heel into the ground to stop the rolling and landed on all fours. I paused for a breath and some nerve, as I waited for my stomach to go back down to where it is supposed to be. I then looked over my shoulder to see Mitsuki leaning against a tree, her feet sticking high in the air and her head on the ground, her shirt over her face. I tried to hold back a laugh as I stared at the tangled Mitsuki.

Mitsuki groaned as she propped her body back in the right position, she sat there with her legs tucked under her as she rubbed her head. "That… is why I told you to slow down." She glared at me with piercing purple eyes as she attempted to straighten her shirt.

Just then Kiba jumped into the clearing, the first thing he sees is Mitsuki trying to pull her shirt down. Noticing this, Mitsuki's face went bright red and she pulled her shirt down all the way. Kiba snickered but then turned his attention back over to me, who was now on my two feet, with my white sword unsheathed, its long red ribbon hanging off the side.

Soon Akamaru and the others joined him by his side. They looked over to the flustered Mitsuki first, who was now getting to her feet then over to me.

"Give up and come with us." Ordered Shino, his hands stuffed in his pockets.

I shook my head and took a step forward, ready to battle, when suddenly a sharp pain shot up my leg and into my brain. I yelped and fell to the side. The pain was so unexpected it made my head spin. I looked down at my right ankle which throbbed in pain. The pain pulsing through my veins. I struggled to straighten my stance but even the littlest pressure on my ankle, made my mind scream _Stop moving!_

Mitsuki stared at me uncertain of what to do. The others gave skeptical looks. Was she faking?

No this wasn't faking; my leg was broken because of that unfortunate fall. I slowly sheathed my sword and looked to Mitsuki with an apologetic look. With this leg, it would be impossible for a get away, even if she carried me. I scowled at the group and bowed my head. "Fine, we surrender. We will go with you."

Mitsuki gasped then looked away with crossed arms. This day couldn't get any worse could it?

---

The journey back towards Konoha was the worst day of my life. Not only did I feel guilty but I also felt humiliated riding on the back of Akamaru. I scowled the whole way there, trying to savor any dignity I had left. Even though Mitsuki was miserable, she couldn't help but be amused by the site of a dog carrying me.

But when the sun slowly started to set a large gate started to appear ahead. It was the gates of Konoha. I looked over to Mitsuki, who had a huge frown and started to tremble. Even though we were going to come here anyways, Mitsuki would have just waited at the front until I got the supplies and came back, but we never planned that she would actually enter these gates.

Feeling extremely guilty, I quickly looked away.

---

Tsunade grumbled. Why did she have to work so late? Damn all of this paper work. Sometimes she regretted taking on this job of being the Hokage. Why couldn't that stupid old pervy Jiraiya take this job?

Just when her day couldn't get any worse, her assistant Shizune came into the room with a grave expression. Right away Tsunade knew that there will be work for her to do.

"Lady Tsunade?" Shizune spoke nervously; she knew her master was in a bad mood today.

"What is it now?" Tsunade said grumpily. "More paper work?"

Shizune shook her head. "No. Team eight has returned from their mission from the Village of Snow."

"Oh?" Tsunade was uninterested. "That's good."

"Yes it is… but…."

"But?" Now she was interested.

"Well they brought back some people with them."

"Oh." She lost interest once again. "Who?"

"They claimed that the people stole from them. So they captured them. One of them had an injured leg." Shizune explained.

"Who are they?" Tsunade asked again. Starting to get impatient.

"Well… one of the girls… has a white hat and a golden locket around her neck." Shizune said finally.

Tsunade thought for a moment, then it finally clicked in. Her eyes widened. "Really?" She was interested again.

---

Tsunade ordered for team eight to come into her office right away, and to bring the prisoners. She waited patiently at her desk, her fingers neatly folded in front of her. Finally a knock came to her door. "Come in." Tsunade answered.

The first one to enter was Shino. He walked into the room with the others closely behind him. A girl with a white hat hung off Hinata's shoulder who was giving her support, since Tsunade doesn't like that large flee bag in her office. Next came in a taller girl with long black hair. She looked oddly familiar to her, but she didn't think much of it. She had someone else to deal with.

"Hello everyone. I heard your mission was successful." Tsunade spoke with the fakest, cheery voice she could muster.

"Yes." Said Shino.

"All accept these two." Kiba snarled as he gestured to the two girls.

"Ah I see…" Tsunade got up from her chair and walked around her desk. She leaned on the desk and crossed her arms. "Well actually it was good that you brought these two with you."

The team exchanged confused looks. "It was?" Asked Kiba.

Tsunade nodded then looked up into the yellow eyes of the smaller girl of the two. She watched as the eyes flicker with recognition. Good, thought Tsunade, the little brat remembers me.

"You…" The girl spoke deeply, starting to sound like a growl. "Not you."

"Hello again brat." Tsunade grinned.

---

Well here's the really long awaited chapter 4! Sorry for the delay, we haven't had much time to update…once again sorry! PLEASE REVIEW!!!


	5. Chapter 5

Hello everyone and welcome to chapter 3 of Feathers and Blades, a Naruto fanfic by Flowerpuff and Heza-chan X3

Uhh…hello everyone! –dodges knives forks and other pointy objects- EEP! Jeez! Don't kill us pwease! Okay, I'm like really sorry we haven't updated in…almost four months…-dodges more pointy objects-…PLEASE DON'T KILL US!!

Disclaimer: WE DON'T OWN NARUTO!! But we shall be purchasing Gaara and Shino!!

This is a Heza-chan X3/Flowerpuff production!!

--

Magen P.O.V.

I couldn't believe it. My already horrible day just got even worse. I didn't recognize the old hag at first but once she heard her speak, I knew her right away. Old memories fluttered back to me from the back of my brain.

The team looked even more confused now. Their bewildered expressions slightly amused me. Mitsuki also looked confused, but it was easily hidden behind her terrified expression as she looked out the large window in the office, out into the village in front of her.

I turned back to Tsunade, staring into her brown eyes. "Why are you here you old hag."

Tsunade twitched with anger. "I see that you haven't changed at all." She growled, her fists clenching. "Now I see that you turned into a thief. What would Ozu think?" She shot back.

Bulls-eye. I quickly looked away, hiding my wounded expression. Hinata broke the awkward silence. "U-um… might I ask how you t-two know each other?" She stuttered.

Tsunade sighed, calming down a little. "Well… its sort of a long a long story. Let's just say I knew her sensei."

"Oh…" Hinata was unsatisfied with this answer, but she didn't dare to ask again.

"Now…" Tsunade made her way back to her chair and sat down, pulling some papers out of a pile at the corner of her desk. "What about you?" She looked up at Mitsuki, who was still staring out the window.

Mitsuki continued to stare absentmindedly until I jabbed her in the side. She snapped out of her daze and looked around the room startled, suddenly forgetting where she was. But then once she remembered, her face sagged in depression.

"Hey!" Tsunade shouted and startled Mitsuki.

"Huh? Me?" Mitsuki started to tremble once more.

"Yes you… what is your name?" Tsunade asked impatiently.

"Um…" Mitsuki hesitated. I gave her a sympathetic look. "My name is Mitsuki ma-am."

"Ah I see… And why are you with this brat here? And what do you suggest I do with you two?" Tsunade said, reading the paper in front of her.

Mitsuki gulped. "Do with us?"

"Yes." Tsunade placed the paper back down on the desk. "You two have stolen from these people. Don't you think you should be punished?"

"Being here is punishment enough." Mitsuki mumbled under her breath.

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

"Good… Now I am thinking maybe some community service?"

"Um…" Mitsuki didn't know what to say.

"Throw them in jail!" Shouted Kiba.

"Kiba!" Tsunade glared at the boy, who quickly with drawled his comment. "No… that seems too harsh." Tsunade pretended to think it over. "I know!"

Mitsuki and I flinched, ready for our punishment. Please let it be community service.

"I will send the Mitsuki girl to the sand village."

"What?!" Mitsuki protested.

"And Magen will stay here."

"WHAT?!" Both of us shouted now. No they couldn't do this. What an unfair punishment!

--

Mitsuki P.O.V.

I stared at the woman in front of me. She had to be kidding; there was no way in heck that me and Magen would be separated. No. Way.

"Umm ma'am, what purpose does it serve to separate us? Can't Magen come with me?" I asked, shaking slightly, afraid of losing my best friend. The woman shook her head. She looked at me and motioned to her secretary to leave the room. She left quickly, probably to go find my or Magen's prison warden.

"Nope, you're going to the sand village, she's staying here. End of story." Tears came to my eyes, and the fear from being in this accursed village and the fear of losing my best friend made them pour down my face. I hugged onto Magen and sobbed, everyone in the room except Magen wearing surprised looks on their faces.

"Mitsuki. Calm down, bad things happen when you cry." Magen said softly, and I stopped sobbing and looked at her, though the tears were still streaming down my face.

"But…I…can't lose you too…" I whispered, just loud enough so that Magen could hear me. I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked over to see Hinata looking back at me worried.

"Are y-you ok-okay M-Mitsuki?" She asked. I looked around the room, out the window at the village, back at Magen, and started sobbing again. Magen wrapped her arms around me in a tight hug. I continued sobbing, and Magen patted me on the head and released me.

"Well girls, say you're goodbyes and Mitsuki get ready to leave." A loud bang was heard outside the door and it opened to reveal a pineapple haired boy and a blonde girl carrying a large metal object.

"Ah, Shikamaru, Temari, your finally here." Tsunade said, and motioned them to close the door.

"Troublesome."

Everyone rolled their eyes except for Magen and me, Magen still trying to calm me down. Tsunade cleared her throat and Magen and I looked at her, both of us glaring.

"Mitsuki, this is the girl that will take you to the sand village." She said. The girl stepped forward.

"So this is the girl eh? Sup, I'm Temari." I nodded.

"Mitsuki." I said in response, clinging onto Magen's arm. The boy yawned. "This is such a drag can I go now hokage-sama?" Magen's eyes widened.

"Hokage…" Tsunade smirked. "Yep brat, hokage." Magen's glare came back full force, and Temari walked over to me, after taking something from Hinata.

"Well, say goodbye and get your stuff, it's off to Suna."

--

I looked back at Magen, my tears having dried up, but threatening to come back again. I waved as I walked out the gate, if only Magen could've come with me. Then I would be out of that stupid village and with my only friend.

"Hey, Mitsuki right?" Temari asked, pulling my attention from the gate where Magen was being led away by Tsunade. I nodded. "What?" She brought her hand out of her pocket and produced the thing that had made Magen and I get captured in the first place. My ring. I snatched it out of her hand and mumbled a thank you, and put it in my shuriken pouch I used for carrying small things.

"So who'd you get it from? Or should I say steal it from?" My eyes darted to the side in painful remembrance, but Temari took it as guilt.

"Yeah, the hokage told me about the stealing, and the lying. So seriously, where'd you get it? Which Konoha nin did you swipe it off of?" I shook my head but didn't say anything. Temari looked confused.

"Why are you so quiet? You were basically chatting nonstop when you said goodbye to that one girl back there." I stopped walking and Temari turned to look at me.

"That 'girl' is named Magen and she's my best friend. She's not just some girl." I started walking again; Temari following after me but not speaking from shock, the quiet girl actually said something.

--

"We have to make camp here tonight, we took longer than I expected." Temari stated, putting down her bag. She grinned at me. "Can I trust you to not try and escape?" She asked. I nodded. "I'm not going anywhere." I turned and walked away towards the river I had seen just before we had stopped.

"Magen. I miss you already." I said to the wind. It whistled back in a silent reply, and I sighed as I stripped off my outer clothing and waded out into the river. The water swirled around me and I smiled slightly. At least some things will never change. I heard a noise in the bushes to my right and I quickly moved behind a rock, hiding myself from their sight.

"Mitsuki come out from behind that rock I know you're there you idgit."

I grinned. Only one of my friends that aren't stuck in Konoha calls me that. I came out from behind the rock and waded out of the water.

"Kira!" I squealed giving the big cat a hug. She rubbed her head against me slightly and moved back a bit. I blinked several times before asking the question that had been bugging me.

"Kira, what's wrong? Is Magen okay?! Why are you here?" I asked quickly. She rolled her eyes. "Oh let's see, what's wrong? You and Magen have been separated and Magen's going to make a job out of me coming to make sure you're alive. Yes of course Magen's okay. I'm here to make sure you're alright, Magen was worried." I smiled.

"Of course I'm okay! Well, I could still be with Magen, but I'll figure out a way to get back or she'll figure a way to find me. We won't be apart forever! But it's nice to know that we'll have you to communicate back and forth for us. And tell her that I'll send air mail sometimes." I said thrilled that Magen hadn't forgotten me, yet.

"Hey Kira. What's going on with Magen?" I asked quietly, remembering that Temari could be near. Kira growled slightly. "She's with Tsunade. At least she was when I left her." I sighed.

"This is going to be the longest however long we're apart for ever." I said sitting down under a white flowered tree. Kira curled up against my side.

"Remember this moment. This is the one time I will do this and not kill you afterwards." She said. I smiled and leaned against her. I started humming a lullaby, and soon fell asleep.

--

"Mitsuki. Mitsuki. Mitsuki wake up!"

I opened my eyes and saw someone squatted down in front of me.

"Kira?" I whispered looking around. Temari quirked an eyebrow at me. "Who's Kira? I thought you're friends name was Magen?" She asked. I bolted up from the ground and jumped back.

"Whoa. Bubble. Seriously." I said backing up a little bit more. Temari looked at me and blinked several times before starting to laugh. I looked at her, confused. "What?" I asked. Temari stopped laughing and looked back at me.

"That was just kind of funny, sorry for invading your bubble!" She said, laughing again. I shrugged and started laughing too. After awhile we stopped laughing and sat down. "You are so strange." Temari said. I turned away pouting.

"Oh yeah, well you're not all that normal either Magen!" I realized what I had said after I said it, and my head drooped. I felt the tears coming and blinked them back.

"No more crying. I promised. No more crying." I whispered. I glanced at Temari who was picking up her bag. She looked back at me and sighed.

"Come on. Sulk later move now." She said. I stood up and we continued onward towards my new prison ward.

--

Temari and I approached the gates of what I assumed to be Suna.

"Well, here we are! Welcome to Suna, your new home!" Temari said, man sometimes I hate being right. I flinched at the last part of her statement, though she didn't notice in her excitement of being home. I only had one home, but it was in a place I never wished to return to. Temari led me towards a large building, greeting people along the way.

"By the way, the kazekage, he's my brother." Temari said glancing up at a window just before we entered the building. I nodded and smiled. I wasn't thrilled about what was happening, but I wasn't going to sulk about it. Magen had always told me it made her happier when I was happy.

"Hey Mitsuki. When we get up here, be on your best behavior. No sulking or trying to sell a sob story. Trust me; my brother's been through worse." Temari said breaking my train of thought. I smirked. 'Yeah, probably not." I thought. Temari led me to a large doorway.

"Well, here we go." We said together.

--

Temari and I walked into the office, and approached the desk. I was looking down, but when I didn't hear anyone speaking and only the shuffling of feet I looked up.

Temari and a man were standing over at the window talking to another man dressed in kage robes who I assumed to be her brother. Temari and the first man walked over beside me, and the other man walked over and sat down in the desk. Point for me.

"Hey there, my names Kankarou! I'm Temari's bro! Guess you're gonna be staying with us for awhile eh?" The first man said, he was dressed all in black, and he held out his hand to me. I shook it and nodded.

"My names Mitsuki." I replied. Temari's other brother cleared his throat and we all turned to look at him. He had red hair and sea foam green eyes. He also had the kanji for love above his left eye.

"The hokage has sent you here because you and your accomplice are guilty of stealing, and trying to escape after capture. You will be staying with my family so we can keep close watch on you. You will be instructed in the art of the ninja, and you will become a Suna ninja. Any questions?" He said. I stayed quiet. He glared.

'Well someone's cranky.' I thought, smiling at him.

"Well, I have one question. Just saying, not to be rude or anything, but isn't it polite to give your name when you first meet someone? You know, since we're going to be living in the same house and everything! My names Mitsuki!" I said grinning even wider. Temari and Kankarou's eyes widened, and I could see Temari's plan to kill me forming in her mind. I could just feel myself being torn apart by the kazekage, but he only smirked.

"Gaara."

--

Well everyone, here's chapter 5!! We really truly hope you enjoyed it, and we'll try to update sooner! REVIEW PLLLLEEEEAAAAAASSSSSEEEEE! We'll send you virtual cookies!!


	6. Chapter 6

Next chapter! Enjoy! Sorry updates have taken so long. I couldn't get my account up on my computer, and it wouldn't let me upload documents :( But now I am back!

Disclaim. 'Nough said.

---

Magen P.O.V.

I leaned against the desk trying to hide the frown that kept playing on my face. After Mitsuki left the office, it has been silent. Shizune and the others left shortly after, leaving me and Tsunade alone in the room. I sighed and looked over my shoulder at the woman who was reading over the papers. "So what's going to happen now?" I asked, finally breaking the awkward silence between us.

Tsunade hummed a reply and picked up another piece of paper. This was getting annoying; I got off the desk and turned to face her head on. "You don't suspect me to stay in this office forever do you?" I said as calmly as I could. "So what do I do now then?"

Tsunade looked over the paper and into my eyes. She sighed a long deep sigh and dropped the paper back onto the desk. "I still can't believe that I am seeing you again after all these years. I have many questions to ask you, but unfortunately I have a lot of work to do. So what will happen now is I will send for Shizune, you will be staying with her from now on."

I flinched. Now she's choosing who I'm staying with? I hated this woman.

Tsunade continued. "Then tomorrow morning I will decide your fate." She said with a smirk. "Oh and about your leg…" Tsunade got up from her seat and walked around the desk. I watched with awe as her hands began to glow with chakra. It wasn't that surprising, I have seen it been done many times before. So without complaint, I let her heal up my broken leg.

Once she was done, she said nothing more. I stood there bending my leg, testing it.

---

Shizune brought me to an empty room with a small bed in the corner. Only one window lit up this closet for a room with some moonlight from outside.

I waited until Shizune left the room before I climbed out of the window and into a small garden. I bit down on my thumb and smeared the blood across my palm. Then quickly as I could I formed hand signs and threw my hand to the loose soil.

With a puff of smoke, Kira appeared. "What is it now?" She asked irritably.

"I need you to go find Mitsuki and see if she if okay." I said. "You will be able to sniff her out right?"

Kira was confused, not with the question, but with the demand. "Mitsuki is not here with you?" She asked.

I shook my head unhappily. "No. Our punishment was to split us up. She is going to stay at the Sand village." I said with a yawn. I haven't slept for two nights in a row; I was due for a nap.

Kira didn't ask anymore questions, she sensed my exhaustion and left with a bow of her head. I watched her as she dashed into the shadows and out of site. I stood there for a while longer, staring at the spot where she had disappeared, a flurry of thoughts screamed in my head like a flock of birds. As I stared into the darkness, I never felt more alone in my life.

---

"Out of all the… irresponsible things you did, this is one of the worst Tsunade." Complained an older woman with her grey hair tied back in a tight bun and her eyes firmly closed. "This is a danger to this village and you know it. Especially with the Akatsuki threat lately."

Tsunade sat on a small couch with her legs and arms crossed; she was getting sick of always getting scolded by these two. "I cannot let her go out into the world, that is more of a danger."

"Well… what happened to her sensei you spoke of? Why isn't he keeping a watch on her?" Asked the older man now.

Tsunade frowned. "He passed away a while ago. When I went down there to visit, the house was empty except for him, lying in the bed."

"Did it ever occur to you that maybe…" The older woman lowered her voice to a whisper as if someone was listening into the conversation. "That maybe she killed him?"

Tsunade's eyes widened. Fury bubbled inside of her. "No way! How dare you accuse her for such a crime!" She stood to her feet. "Magen loved Ozu with all her heart, and she isn't the type of person to do such a thing."

The older woman stood her ground, unfazed by this outburst. "You know of the incident in Magen's past."

Tsunade stood there in silence. The woman continued. "I would not like it to be repeated."

"It won't be." Tsunade said calmly. "I'll make sure of it."

The older woman lowered her head in defeat and exhaustion from this conversation. "Do as you wish, if I cannot change your decision, then I will just keep a close watch on you two."

Tsunade nodded and turned to leave the room, many memories going through her head. One of her favorites played over and over again as she walked down the hallway.

The image of Ozu on his butt with a young Magen standing over him, holding a white sword pointed to his chest, a large grin on both of their faces.

---

When I woke up I found that my pillow was wet, the taste of tears in my throat. I was crying? I tried to recall my dream I had that night, I almost had a picture in my mind when a knock at the door was heard and chased the image away. I glared towards the door. Knock knock. Grumpily I got to my feet and walked towards the door.

I was surprised to see who was on the other side of the door. That stoic boy from before. I believe his name was Shino.

"What do you want?" I stretched my arms to the ceiling and yawned.

"Lady Tsunade asked for me to retrieve you and bring you to her office." He said simply, not noticing that I was just in boxers and a tank top.

"Retrieve?" I cocked an eyebrow. "What am I? A package?"

Shino did not deny this. Which I took as an insult. I glared at him. "Well could you wait until I got changed or something?"

Shino nodded and turned away, I shut the door once more and rolled my eyes. I'd rather Tsunade be outside my door.

---

The walk to her office was silent, which I preferred. I looked irritably up at the sky, it was still pink, the sun was just rising.

Still slightly asleep, I opened the door without knocking and to Shino's surprise, walked right up to the desk and slammed my hand onto the wood. Tsunade didn't jump or even flinch, she just stared up at me with a smirk. "Sleep well?"

I ignored her question. "What's the big idea sending this guy to come and wake me up so early in the morning?" I growled.

"Well I thought you guys should get to know each other," She began, her smirk dancing on her face, "because he will be keeping an eye on you while you're here." What?

I blinked at her then looked over my shoulder at Shino. He stood there quietly, his hands in his pockets. I looked back down at Tsunade and saw a flicker of enjoyment in her eyes. She just loved making me miserable.

She continued. "You will be with team eight, going with them on missions and training with them every waking moment. Since they were the ones who caught you in the act, they will be the ones to teach you to be a good citizen… and keep you busy for the time being." And with that, she nodded to the door, signaling for us to leave.

Speechless, I turned on my heals and stomped out of the room. Shino turned to Tsunade and nodded politely before falling in step behind me. Later when we reached outside I stopped in the middle of the road I looked over my shoulder with a fake smile, "What are we going to do today… boss?"

---

Mitsuki P.O.V.

I sat on the bed staring out the window at the moon. Maybe Magen was looking at the moon thinking of me too, God I miss her. I turned and looked around the room again. One queen sized bed, one desk, one bookshelf, one closet, one weird looking rug thing. Nope all the same. The only thing about the room that I liked was the balcony.

"Still grumpy?" A voice at the door said. I looked back and saw a smirking Kankarou looking at me. I instantly averted my eyes to something else.

"Nope!" I yawned. "Just a little sleepy!" I said giggling, still avoiding looking at him. Kankarou grinned at me. "Well get some sleep, you're going to need it." I nodded and he walked out of the room. Yes, the room. Not my room. My room isn't here, my room is…well it's just not this room. I crossed the hall to the bathroom and changed.

"Now if only Magen were here and I wasn't being punished this wouldn't be half bad!" I said to myself. I walked back into the room I was staying in. I laid down and shut my eyes and tried to fall asleep.

"Well this sucks." I said sitting up three hours later. I sensed it was somewhere around two in the morning.

"Yep this really sucks." I said again remembering that Kankarou had said I would need my sleep. I sighed and walked out onto the balcony, hey if I can't sleep I'm going to look at the moon and the stars, one of my favorite nighttime pastimes. After about fifteen minutes I started to sing part of a song I knew.

"If you need to leave the world you live in, lay your head down and stay awhile. Though you may not remember dreaming, something waits for you to breathe again." I hummed the interlude and opened my mouth to sing the rest. "In my field of paper flowers, and candy clouds of lullaby, I lie inside myself for hours, and watch my purple sky fly over me."

I turned and walked back inside to try and fall back asleep. The wind rushed behind me swinging the doors to the balcony shut and I grinned. At least I know I can always contact Magen via airmail. And I can always escape from here, they sort of trust me, they wouldn't think I would go. I could just leave and they would never be able to stop me.

'But I can't hurt these guys too. Nobody else that trusts me that I don't have to hurt is going to get hurt by me.' I thought sliding back under the covers.

---

"Rise and shine sleepy head!"

I groaned and pulled the covers over my head. I felt weight on my stomach and shot up.

"I AM SO SICK OF BEING SAT ON!" I yelled making Temari jump off of me. She smirked.

"Well it got you up didn't it?" I glared at her. "I am going back to sleep. Wake me up at ten." I said and put my head back on the pillow. I felt a weight on my stomach but didn't do anything. She adjusted herself once, twice, three times to many and I shot up again.

"GET OFF OF ME PLEASE!" I shouted. She laughed. "Please? Yeah Mitsuki, real scary." I laughed a little and got out of the bed. "Alright I'm up. And if you don't want me to go back to sleep get out so I can change!"

Temari walked to the door and stuck her tongue out at me. "You have fifteen minutes." She said before being hit in the face with the pillow I had just been putting onto the bed I was making. She laughed and threw it back at me and I put it on the bed. She walked out and I went to the closet and pulled out my outfit.

"Well, another day to wait for a reply from Magen…I hope she's okay." I said thinking out loud as I got dressed. I hummed as I got ready, putting my outfit on and my key around my neck, and then walked out on the balcony again. I looked over the horizon and sat on my knees, resting my head on my arms on the railing.

---

I opened my eyes to find myself inside on the bed that was supposed to be mine. I yawned. 'What's going on? The last thing I remember was going out to the balcony. I must have fallen asleep.' I thought. The last part of my thought replayed itself in my head and I sprang off the bed. "I'm so late!" I shouted running past a mirror to make sure I didn't look like a complete slob and ran to the training grounds where I was supposed to meet Temari and Kankarou.

"Mitsuki! Come back here!" I heard Temari shout as I raced towards the training grounds. I stopped. 'Temari?' I turned around and saw Temari laughing at me. I walked back to her.

"What?" I asked. She kept laughing. I decided that now would be the time to apologize. "I'm so sorry I'm really late! I fell asleep and well I just woke up and realized I was late!" She stopped laughing.

"Wait, so you really were sleepwalking?"

I blinked several times thinking about what she said. "Sleepwalking?" She nodded. "You apparently fell asleep somewhere and the next thing we know you're falling over the ledge of the balcony onto Gaara!" I blushed from embarrassment.

"Is he okay?!" I asked. She nodded. "He's fine. We're just lucky he caught you!" We both started laughing, random people walking by us and staring as they passed. Temari and I must have looked like we had been the best of friends forever. But I knew that wasn't true. All of my friends except two were dead and gone. I stopped laughing.

"Wait I was sleepwalking?! I haven't sleepwalked since I first met Magen when I was nine and a half!" I shouted. Temari stopped laughing as well. "Well that's odd. Must be separation anxiety!" She said grinning. I nodded and my head drooped. Just another reason to miss Magen.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to make you upset." Temari said quickly. I nodded again and walked back towards the house portion of the kazekage building. Temari grabbed my arm and I halted. She could feel the tension and dropped my arm.

"We still have to go to the training grounds." I shook my head. "No." Was all I said and I turned and walked back to the house, Temari watching as I left. She sighed.

"And there for a second I thought I finally got her to open up to me."

She turned and headed to the training grounds to find her brothers.

---

Temari P.O.V.

I walked into the middle of a battle between Kankarou and Gaara. I smirked as I watched Kankarou give it his all, and Gaara fight back, helping his older brother train.

"Yo you two! Come take a break! I brought food!" I shouted. The two stopped and walked towards me. We sat down under a tree, the two of them eating while I thought about what had happened.

"Hn. So what happened Temari?" Gaara asked. I smiled, just like Gaara to guess exactly what I was thinking about. I shrugged.

"Well I went to get food, and she was on her way here. She was really asleep you guys, she didn't just faint from fear." Gaara and Kankarou nodded. "She walked back to me and apologized for being late, and I told her that she fell on you, Gaara, and she almost opened up to me for a minute." I said.

"Almost?" Kankarou asked. I nodded. "Almost. We were laughing and she just suddenly stopped and said that she hadn't sleepwalked since she was nine and a half years old and first met her friend Magen. Then she got all upset again and went back home." I finished. Kankarou sighed.

"She was so different last night when I talked to her, she wouldn't really speak to me directly and she avoided looking me in the eyes. All her spunk from when she met Gaara was gone." He said. I rolled my eyes. "Kankarou, I think that was just stubbornness and being rude. Not spunk."

My brothers and I continued talking for awhile, and eventually started training, our conversation about our new house resident forgotten momentarily.

---

Magen P.O.V.

I stood there bored as ever. I watched as a black haired woman lectured Shino, Kiba, and Hinata, about what, I didn't know and didn't care. Finally the woman turned towards me, her red eyes looking me up and down then she spoke. 

"Hello my name is Yuhi Kurenai. You can call me sensei Kurenai like the others." She introduced herself slowly and with no interest.

"Magen." I said simply.

Kurenai nodded and stepped closer. "Lady Tsunade has spoken with me about you…"

I felt a cold sweat drip down my back. She did? What did she say? What did she tell her about me? Does she know now? I tried to hide my tenseness from the others. Shino did notice it though; he cocked an eyebrow at me as he watched my small trembling.

Kurenai continued. "She said that you are skilled with swords."

My trembling subsided and I looked at her with pride. "Yes, it is true."

Kurenai nodded. "Well if you will be working with us on missions," she said "then we would like to see what you are capable of."

A large grin spread across my face. As if I would show them what I'm truly capable of. But I nodded anyways; I wanted to know what they were capable of.

"Would you mind a practice battle with one of my students?" Asked Kurenai. "You may choose your opponent."

I took this decision more seriously then I thought I would. I studied each character, guessing there strengths and choosing which one pissed me off the most in the past few days.

Hinata didn't do anything to me yet. Actually she was very sweet and she is the most I can trust out of all three.

Kiba and that dam mutt were very annoying, I wouldn't mind taking those two down, especially getting them back for sitting on me and Mitsuki. That would be very satisfying.

But then there was Shino. The way he stares at me. I knew he didn't trust me the way I didn't trust him. That and that he woke me up early in the morning. He had to pay for that.

I pointed to Shino. "You."

Shino stared silently, his hands in his pockets. Kurenai nodded and told the others to step away to give us some room. I measured the distance between Shino and I. Around 6 meters I estimated.

I barely listened to the instructions Kurenai explained. Something about no serious injuries or killings.

When Kurenai was finished explaining the instructions she raised her hand up and threw it down shouting "Begin!" Which was the word I was hoping to hear for a while now.

But to my surprise, Shino stood there, his hands in his pockets. What was he waiting for? For me to make the first move? Well then he will have his wish. I slowly unsheathed my white sword and tossed it to my left hand. The others watched carefully, wondering why I switched hands.

I twirled the sword around, exercising my wrist for battle. Then finally I raised the sword in front of my face and smirked. This will be fun.

Then I charged towards Shino, light on my feet and with quick movements. Then with one quick movement, I slashed down towards his shoulder, but then was quickly blocked by a kunai knife. I looked over to Shino who was watching for my next move through his dark painted glasses.

I then turned on my one heal, bringing my sword towards his other side but then once again was blocked. Not very surprised by this, I smiled and jumped away. "Time to step things up then." I said to know one in particular then charged at him once more.

---

"_Again!"_

_I slowly got to my feet, my limbs trembling with exhaustion. My legs felt like they would buckle any minute and I would fall to the ground, humiliated once again in front of my Sensei. But this time I would not let him down, this time I will fight back the urge to rest._

_With determination in my eyes, I rose the wooden stick from my side and charged at Sensei Ozu once more but then was quickly dashed aside as he took one step to the left and tripped me with his foot. Quickly loosing balance from my exhaustion, I fell forward and rolled on the ground, stopping face up, my butt in a patch of mud. _

_Ozu chuckled. "Let's call it a day. You look tired."_

_With shaking arms, I pulled myself up onto my feet once more, holding the stick with both hands. "No. I will not give up just yet."_

_Ozu respected this and nodded. "Alright then, like I said before, come at me like you want to kill me and don't hold back."_

_I nodded and charged at him once more. This time I was not so fooled with his tripping trick, so I turned on the palm of my foot and swung down the stick towards his left hand, which was holding his stick, to disarm his. _

_But Ozu saw through my movement and dodged out of the way, tripping me with his leg. I started to fall backwards but caught myself with my hands and back flipped right back into position. A little surprised by my last move, I attacked him once more._

_Wood clashed with wood. Blocking each attacks, evenly matched. Then finally I landed a blow on his left arm. He cringed slightly and then smiled down at me. A proud smile, he was proud of me. I couldn't help but smile back, I was so happy. _

_Someone was proud of me._

---

As I charged at Shino once more, I saw his hand raise the kunai knife for a block, but I will be one step ahead of him this time. That's the only way to win a battle, always be a step ahead of your opponent.

I raised my sword for an attack but it was only to psyche him out, because as soon as I was a few centimeters away from him, I jumped up and flipped over him, twisting my body in the air so I would land facing his back. And when I did land on my feet, I pointed the sword at the back of his neck. "Game over." I said smugly.

Shino didn't move. And neither could I. I looked down at my feet and noticed those dam bugs crawling up my legs once more. Then when I directed my stare back up to my target I noticed that He also was covered in bugs. No wait, he_ was_ bugs. I watched in horror as my opponent turn into a cloud of black insects.

The cloud fell to the ground and the insects scattered behind me, I could here their little legs crawling and clicking. Then the insects grew into a pile behind me soon transforming into Shino, holding a Kunai knife below my chin. The coldness of the blade just touching the skin of my neck.

"Game over for you, you mean." He said.

"Clever." I said. "How did you know to use a clone?"

"Well once you were flipping over me," he explained, "I quickly formed a clone."

"Well then," I nodded. "I guess you were just one step ahead of me." I grinned. "Unfortunately for you though, I was two steps ahead." Then in a puff of smoke, I disappeared.

"A clone." Shino said, but before he could do anymore, he could feel the blade on his back once more.

Kurenai waited a while, making sure there wasn't anymore surprise clones until she announced the winner. "Magen wins!"

Kiba stood in awe and Hinata clapped quietly, a small smile on her lips. She never saw someone beat Shino before.

I sheathed my sword and walked towards the group, leaving Shino behind, standing there, in his thoughts.

The battle was all too easy though. I thought it would have been more fun then that was. I didn't even get to use anything close to my full power. I thought disappointedly. I used my left hand the whole time.

---

I'm so glad I've come back :) I missed you guys! Please review! Nicely!


	7. Chapter 7

Next chapter! Enjoy! Sorry updates have taken so long. I couldn't get my account up on my computer, still, and I had uber writer's block. Buttttttttttttt I finished writing the story! So now I've just gotta update.

Disclaim. Shazaam.

Mitsuki P.O.V.

I lay on the roof watching the moon rise slowly over the village. I rolled my eyes. I think I might have an obsession with the moon.

I had run back after leaving Temari and had instantly crashed when I sat down on the bed to read. I woke up and sensed that it had been around five hours since I had arrived. I searched the house for a sign of anyone, and only found silence. I lay back against the roof and sighed.

"Why can't Magen be here too?" I asked myself. "Because she was told to stay behind in Konoha." A voice said. I sat up and turned and came face to face, actually more like face to knee with the kazekage. I bowed slightly which probably looked extremely awkward since I was sitting down.

"I'm sorry Lord Kazekage, I didn't hear you coming, I was just, you know, talking to myself." I said, rubbing the back of my head sheepishly. He nodded and sat down. I went back to staring at the stars. A few moments later I saw Temari walking out of the village. I looked back to Gaara in question.

"She is going to Konoha. I'm sorry if you would have wished to go with her." He said, never looking away from the sky. I shook my head. Konoha was one place that I didn't want to go back to.

"No." I said quickly. "Not there." I finished quietly. He looked down from the sky and looked me in the eye with those piercing seafoam orbs.

"Why?" He asked. I thought about it for a moment, and tears threatened to show themselves, but I quickly blinked them away, hoping he hadn't noticed. "Bad memories?" I replied quietly. He nodded.

I looked down at the village gate where Temari had left just moments ago. I touched the key around my neck in remembrance, and looked back up at the sky. I thought back to times with Magen and smiled.

"_Magen isn't it beautiful?" I shouted pointing up at the sky. The stars were shining brightly and the moon was full. Magen nodded, swallowing the rest of her bread. I stared up at the sky, twirling in circles in my small eleven year old body under the moon. Magen laughed._

"_You're so fascinated with the sky aren't you Mitsuki?" She asked. I stopped spinning and fell on my butt from dizziness. I nodded. "Yep! You bet I am!" We both laughed and Magen threw me an apple from the tree above her. _

_She smiled at me as I caught the apple and took a bite. "So, why are you so obsessed with the sky, eh Mitsuki?" I shrugged, and swallowed my bite of apple. _

"_Well, you know, it's just so beautiful! It's the one thing that I know will be there every time I look up. Well at night anyways!" Magen and I laughed again. She smiled softly at me. "You are such a dork sometimes Mitsuki." _

"_Yeah, I get that a lot from you and Kira!" I said. I started to laugh but was cut off by a large yawn. I grinned. "Magen I'm…sleepy…" I said and everything went black._

I yawned and lay back against the roof again. I remembered why I had been in bed almost all day and turned to Gaara.

"What happened?" I asked. Gaara turned from the sky. "Hn." Was his reply. I smiled at him, knowing that I hadn't given enough information.

"Today. Temari told me that I was sleepwalking?" I said. Gaara nodded. "Hn. You fell from the balcony. Either you fell asleep while falling or were sleepwalking." He said.

I sighed. "I haven't sleepwalked since I was almost ten. When I first met Magen." I said, the need to explain myself had arisen. "I had well you know, bad memories, and Magen helped me get some control over the nightmares. If it hadn't been for her I might have slept myself off a cliff." I finished with a small grin. Magen always made me feel better, even when she wasn't there.

Gaara stood. "Hn. I believe it is time to go back inside." He said offering me his hand. I smiled and took it, and stood up, and we went back inside.

Kankarou met us at the bottom of the stairs near the kitchen, Gaara and I were both hungry, or at least I was. Kankarou grinned at me and Gaara. "Strange weather we're having eh Gaara?" Kankarou asked.

Gaara looked at him like he was an idiot. "What are you talking about Kankarou? The weather is as usual." Kankarou chuckled. "You don't call raining cute teenage girls strange Gaara?" He said, laughing and pointing at me. I blushed at his comment.

"A-arigatou." I said smiling and blushing. Kankarou nodded and winked at me, making me blush again. The three of us walked into the kitchen, the boys sitting down at the table while I went to the fridge. I looked inside for leftovers and found nothing.

"Um Kankarou, Lord Kazekage, there's nothing in here." I said, turning to them. The two said nothing, only looked at me expectantly. It clicked in my mind that they wanted me to cook so I turned back to the fridge. I pulled out some chicken, rice, and other ingredients. I placed them on the counter and picked up a knife, cutting up some vegetables.

"And viola it is done!" I said placing the last dish on the table. The boys heaped food on their plates, taking mountains of the chicken stir-fry. I giggled and sat down, putting food on my plate as well. I watched as they each took a bite, and prayed that it was good. They didn't say anything, but continued eating heartily. I took that as a "Yeah its good" and dug in myself. We ate in silence for fifteen minutes, before we were all done. I started cleaning up, taking the used dishes to the sink.

"It was great, thanks! That's the first time we've had a home cooked meal in forever!" Kankarou said, coming up behind me and putting his dishes in the sink. I smiled; at least I can do one thing right. Gaara walked up behind me and put his dishes in the sink as well. 

"Hn. When did you learn to cook?" He asked. "I learned when I was very young Kazekage sir, I love to cook and I just picked up a few good recipes!" I replied, the smile never leaving my face. He nodded and turned, Kankarou following.

"We'll be in Gaara's office if you need us Mitsuki!" Kankarou said. I nodded and continued to clean up. I hummed as I worked, my cheerful mood returning. I laughed at myself. If anything could make me feel better it was cooking, singing, or training. Or being with Magen. Anything I do with Magen makes me happy. I started singing softly as I washed the dishes.

I turned off the shower and stepped out, wrapping a towel around me. I walked over to the room I was staying in and got changed. I had just finished changing when I felt a presence in my room. A ninja with a rock village forehead protector stood behind me. He stared at me, looking almost confused.

He pulled out a kunai and raced towards me. I pulled out some senbon and made the proper hand seals for my white rain jutsu.

"Shiro kouu!" I shouted, watching as my senbon hit the rock nin. The ninja grunted and rushed out through my open window. I followed, not hearing the thunder of footsteps racing towards my room.

I jumped out my window and landed safely on the ground. I looked around for the ninja and spotted them fleeing towards a building. I raced after them, pushing chakra into my feet.

"Get back here!" I yelled at them, making the ninja halt for a moment before continuing on. They ran into the building and I ran in after them, rushing into an empty dark room. I heard the door slam behind me and I sighed; I hate traps.

"Here kitty kitty. Time to come out and play." I heard a mans voice say. I growled. I hate this already. I smiled and knelt down, putting my hand on the ground and pressing chakra out through my hand. I felt a strange chakra signature over in a corner and smirked. I pulled out a shuriken and threw it towards the corner.

"Ah! Stupid bitch!" I heard him yell out. I stood back up and suddenly I felt pain in my arm. I looked down at it but couldn't see. I felt pain in my leg and screeched. I knew this man had an advantage, apparently he could see in the dark. I pulled out several kunai and threw them random directions. I heard one hit and moved towards the sound, kunai in hand.

I felt his presence and aimed for what I figured would be his chest. I felt my kunai dig into something and smirked. Suddenly I was thrown up against a wall and I screeched out of surprise and pain. I could see the man in the flicker of moonlight shining through a small window above my head. I saw the bloodlust in his eyes, and I was afraid. He brought up a kunai and aimed it at my heart.

"No!" I shouted and a huge gust of wind threw him off of me. He stood up and raced back at me. I got ready to defend myself, and I realized I couldn't move. He aimed at my heart and I screamed. Just as I thought I was going to die a bunch of sand flew at the ninja throwing him away from me.

"Mitsuki!" I heard Kankarou yell. I turned my head, feeling myself able to move again, and saw Kankarou and Gaara. Gaara was attacking the stone ninja and Kankarou was running towards me. I smiled, and Kankarou rushed up to me and hugged me, making me blush. I pushed away from him and smiled.

"What happened?" He asked. I shrugged. "Well, I was in my room changing when I felt eyes…on…me…!" My eyes widened and I turned to face Gaara and the ninja. The man was on the ground and Gaara was glaring at him, making sure he wasn't going to make any sudden moves. I pulled out some senbon and threw them at the ninja, covering myself up.

"Pervert!"

Magen's P.O.V.

This was getting ridicules! They just wouldn't leave me alone.

After my short battle with Shino, Kurenai had a chat with me away from the group about how perceptive I was and what my position would be on missions. But after that they wouldn't leave me alone.

Every time I would walk away slightly, Hinata would be right beside me. Or when I said I was hungry for some lunch, Kiba and Shino were right on my tail, falling in step behind me as I went down to the nearest restaurant. And during practice, I was always paired up with someone. I need space!

And the worst part of it was, if they kept this up, I will never be able to find Kira and find out on what's up with Mitsuki. I needed to find a way to sneak away from these guys. But they were persistent, so it wouldn't be easy.

I waited until night so I could sneak out, but once I got to Shizune's house, she didn't let me out of her sight. It was then at night when I assumed she was asleep when I finally pulled the covers off my body and snuck towards the window. I quietly pulled it open, surprised that they didn't seal it shut or anything since they were so careful about where I was and pulled my body through it, landing on my feet at the other side and ran towards the road.

I went towards the smell of trees. Kira would be in the forest somewhere, I just had to find her. At last I made it under the protective branches that slightly hid the sparkling balls of light that were stuck in the dark blue sky. Mitsuki would love this night, there was not one cloud in the sky and the moon lit up the scenery.

"Magen." I heard a familiar whisper.

I jerked my head to the right and smiled down at a giant white tiger that hid in the shadows. I bent down on my knees and we nuzzled heads. She then backed away, serious now. "Magen." She repeated.

"Sorry I couldn't find you sooner. They just wouldn't leave me alone." I sighed

Kira understood and nodded.

"How's Mitsuki?" I asked quickly, my heart racing. "Is she okay? Did she make it to the village?"

Kira nodded again. "She is fine. But I left before she made it to the village. I would not be able to follow them in an open area like the desert."

"Oh." I sighed with relief that she was okay but I still felt uneasy.

Kira cleared her throat and then spoke in the tongue that only I could understand. _Someone has followed you here._

My eyes widened. Kira continued. _A figure is watching from the trees a fair distance away. It is precautious with its actions. They don't want to be found so easily. _

I nodded silently. I understood her, but I could not speak back. Kira slowly moved her head to the left. Motioning where the man is. _Do you want me to stay just in case?_

I shook my head now. No. I wanted to fight off this person myself I said with my eyes. Kira understood and disappeared in a puff of smoke. Just before she disappeared, I gathered chakra in my eyes and my eye sight sharpened. Now seeing every detail in the dark as if it was daytime, I quickly jumped towards the spy. I unsheathed my white sword and it clashed with another weapon when I came in contact with the person.

"Shino…" I said under my breath. I landed on the branch beside him, keeping my sword out just in case.

Shino turned towards me. "I knew that tiger was yours." He said with a touch of triumph in his voice.

I glared at him through my night vision. Picking up every single insect crawling on his coat. Did he have them out to attack me? Was he being a sore loser from this morning?

"Why did you follow me?" I asked coldly.

Shino stood in silence for a moment. "Tsunade ordered me to."

I twitched. "Really? How long have you been following me for?"

"For the past two nights." He was very forward I figured. Wait… that means he was there when I first sent Kira out for Mitsuki.

"So you saw me with Kira before."

Shino hesitated before nodding, it clicked in his brain that Kira was said tiger. He then turned his back to me. "Let's go."

I growled. "Who said you could tell me what to do?" I asked. "I could just kill you now and run away, get Mitsuki, then leave this retched country."

Shino looked over his shoulder. I strained my ears to the sounds of crawling and clicking from inside his body. The insects were getting excited for battle. So was I. I twirled my sword tauntingly in the air in front of me. Shino seemed unfazed. "Let's go." He repeated.

"No." I said flatly.

Shino turned his whole body towards me now to my satisfaction. This time I won't hold back if it meant that I could leave this place. "I have orders to keep you in the village." He said.

"And I don't give a crap about your orders."

"Okay. Then I will have to drag you back with me."

"Bring it Bug Boy."

So he did. Shino rose his arms up and a cloud of insects flew out from under his sleeves. They came right towards me. I stood my ground to the last minute when the sound of buzzing filled my ears. Then at the last minute I concentrated chakra to my feet and jumped into the air, planting my feet on the bottom of the branch above me and then kicking off, I shot towards Shino.

The sword now in my right hand clashed with his kunai knife once more. I cart wheeled in the air so I could stand on my feet once more and attacked him once more. He dodged and jumped away into the next tree, sending his insects towards me.

Shino studied Magen's movements as his insects charged towards her once more. She was fast and had great reflexes. Then in a blink of an eye she was right in front of him once more. He blinked in shock but quickly dodged another stab of her weapon. It just misses his shoulder.

He noticed that she was using her right hand to attack now and that her attacks were quicker and more accurate now. He calculated that she was right handed and that before she was just going easy on him. And each time she attacked him now, her attacks quickened and became more deadly and troublesome for Shino to dodge and block each time.

He also assumed that she was only good at close attacks, when he was better with long distance attacks. That's when he would win this battle. He just had to keep his distance away from her and that sword.

So when he ducked from a slice towards his head, he jumped as far away as he possibly could.

I smirked. The way Shino kept jumping away from me, I knew he thought that I was only good at close combat. That was where he was wrong.

I loosened the grip on the hilt of the sword as I kept my eye on Shino who stood approximately 7 meters away from me. Perfect distance for me. Then to Shino's surprise, I dropped my sword to the darkness below, the red ribbon rubbing against my palm.

Then when the ribbon was just about to fall with the sword, I gripped the end on it, the sword swinging slowly below me. Then with a jerk of my wrist, the sword flung up above me then I started to twirl it. Slowly at first, but then it quickened.

It twirled beside me like a windmill. A sword attached to a short red ribbon.

The ribbon was no longer short. Shino watched in shock, his insects on hold, as the ribbon started to stretch longer, the rotating sword moving further away from Magen's body, slicing off and branch in its way. Then Shino noticed that it wasn't just the ribbon that was growing, but the sword as well. He watched as the sword grew in width. The metal growing thicker and wider very slowly, as if the metal was a living thing itself and it was bubbling and morphing into adulthood.

Near the outskirts of the forest stood Kiba, Akamaru, and Hinata. Veins bulged out from around Hinata's eyes. The pale orbs searching through the branches and leaves for her teammate, or her two teammates for that matter.

"Find them?" Asked Kiba impatiently.

Hinata gasped.

"What is it? You find them?" Kiba found that his voice was getting a little louder then intended. Trying not to wake anyone up, he lowered his voice to a whisper. "What do you see Hinata?"

Hinata chewed on her bottom lip. "I see them. But they are fighting."

"They are?" Kiba gasped. "I guess Shino wanted a rematch." He chuckled.

Hinata shook her head slowly. "No." Hinata looked closer towards the glowing female shape. "This looks more serious… It looks like they aren't holding back."

"What do you mean?"

Hinata strengthened her Byakugan and studied Magen's chakra patterns. "Before Magen didn't bother to use any of her chakra in her battle." She said. "But now I can see Magen's chakra leaking out of her body… and into her sword."

"Into her sword?"

"Yea… and the sword is growing. As if it's alive!" She gasped.

"Creepy." Kiba shuddered.

"Oh no." Hinata breathed. "Now she's attacking him. I hate to say this but… It looks like Shino doesn't stand a chance here."

Kiba clenched his hands into fists. "Hinata! Why would you says something like that!" He lowered his voice once more. "Shino is one of the strongest shinobi's in this village."

Hinata nodded. "True… but by the looks of her chakra level and her speed… he's not as strong as Magen is." She started to chew on her lip again.

Mitsuki P.O.V.

I sat inside Gaara's office; I had stopped listening after the first three seconds of the man in front of me's rant to watch a butterfly. I saw fingers snapping in front of my face and jumped backwards, falling off the chair and landing on my butt.

"What in the heck?" I shouted. I heard someone snickering and looked behind me to see Kankarou and Gaara. Kankarou was the one snickering, while Gaara's face was devoid emotion besides a smirk. I rolled my eyes.

"It wasn't that funny Kankarou." I said, but a small grin was now plastered on my face. Gaara nodded and turned to the man in front of me who looked very annoyed.

"Baki-san. Did you tell her what I instructed?" Gaara asked. Baki shook his head. "I started to Kazekage-sama, but her attention turned to that of an ameba. She watched a butterfly instead."

I rubbed the back of my neck, grinning still. "Heh, well he was boring! And the butterfly was pretty!" I said quickly. Baki glared at me and I only smiled at him, making Kankarou and Gaara smirk. Gaara dismissed Baki and I stood to leave to, but a stern look from Gaara made me sit back down. In a chair this time.

"Mitsuki. Will you listen if I speak?" Gaara asked me.

"Hai! Kazekage-san!" I replied cheerfully. Kankarou chuckled and Gaara nodded.

"First off, the stone ninja died just briefly after we got our information out of him." I nodded as Gaara continued. "He had a grudge against my sister for killing his son, whom was a bandit and was to be put in prison anyways, and planned to kill her for revenge. He believed that you were her, which is why he attacked you."

My hand shot in the air and Gaara nodded at me, giving me the go ahead to speak. "Kazekage-san, when I first saw him he was looking at me all funny, why? And hey, I look nothing like Temari-san! He needed assassination help." I said.

"Hn. Like I said, he thought you were Temari. He realized right away that you looked different, but thought that you may have been Temari in disguise, knowing that he had been coming." I shook my head vigorously.

"Nope! If I had known he was coming I wouldn't have been changing!" I said smiling stupidly, making Kankarou laugh and Gaara smirk. I yawned; I was tired from fighting the blind stupid stone ninja. I didn't wait for Gaara's okay before I stood and walked out the door to the room I was staying in.

I walked into the room and flopped down onto the bed. I grabbed a piece of paper off of the bedside table and wrote a quick letter to Magen, explaining all that had happened and how I had thought I would die. I finished writing and rolled it up, tying it together. I walked to the balcony and threw the letter up in the air, whispering Magen, and with a slight move of my arm the letter flew off in a gust of wind.

I moved from my meditative stance and jumped farther from the door as it opened. Kankarou appeared grinning, and I waved at him, my hands dropping from their fighting stance.

"Geez Mitsuki, planning on killing the people who come into your room?" Kankarou asked, still grinning.

'It's not my room.' I thought as I shook my head in reply. "What do you want Kankarou?"

"Well, Gaara told me to tell you to tell yourself…" I rolled my eyes and Kankarou winked at me. I could just feel a twitch coming on. "…That you're going to come to dinner tonight! It's a fancy kinda dinner, so dress fancy!" He finished, and walked towards the door. I sighed, fancy, joy. Then it hit me.

"Wait!" I shouted. Kankarou stopped and turned back towards me.

"Yeah?"

"Uh…I don't have anything fancy!" I said quickly. Kankarou smirked. "Well then, we'll have to have someone bring you something. I'll be back to check up on you shortly!"

Normal P.O.V.

"Kawaii!"

The gray haired maid looked up at Mitsuki, who was twirling around in her new crimson kimono. It also had a golden dragon on the back, and a tan obi.

"Arigatou!" Mitsuki shouted, hugging the maid. "You're welcome dear." The maid smiled and made Mitsuki sit so she could do her hair. She protested at first, but after much insistence, the maid got Mitsuki to sit.

"Uh, Asami-san, this isn't necessary." Mitsuki said as Asami brushed through her hair. She ignored her and pulled her hair back into a high bun, put in a set of crimson chopsticks, and backed away to examine her work.

"Perfect! You look lovely Mitsuki-sama!" Mitsuki stopped staring at her hair to look shocked.

"S-sama?" Asami nodded. "Hai. You are the guest of our Kazekage. You are 'sama'." Mitsuki shook her head.

"No, I am Mitsuki! That's all there is, and all there'll ever be!" She said with a grin.

"No dear, as long as you reside here, you will be 'sama'. Whether you dislike it or not. Now be still while I apply your lip and eye makeup."

Mitsuki stopped fidgeting and Asami painted Mitsuki's lips a deep red and applied a light dust of tan above her eyes. Her nails had been painted crimson red earlier.

"Alright dear, its time for you to go down." Asami said as a knock was heard. She turned to the door and opened it to reveal Gaara and Kankarou.

"Kazekage-sama." Asami said with a bow. Gaara nodded in acknowledgement and Asami exited the room. The two boys walked into the room and finally noticed Mitsuki, who was playing with the hair hanging down at the side of her face.

"Whoa."

Mitsuki looked over at the two boys who were trying to regain their composure. Well, Kankarou was trying to; Gaara remained emotionless as usual, other than the 'whoa'.

"Hey guys, when do we eat?" Mitsuki asked cheerfully, her hands dropping to her sides.

I'm so glad I've come back :) I missed you guys! Please review! Nicely!


	8. Chapter 8

Hope you enjoy!

Disclaim: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

Magen's P.O.V.

Shino dodged another close attack from Magen's sword. His heart was racing and for the first time in a long time, he felt scared of dying in a battle. He looked up once again into the face of his enemy, who was supposed to be his temporary teammate, guess he was wrong.

The girl he was facing seemed to be concentrating very hard on where to throw her attacks. She swung the sword which was now three times its size then before and threw it once more towards Shino. He jumped just in time but the sword managed to slice through his jacket and draw some blood on his arm not noticing Magen twitch. The sword which was attached to a very long, red ribbon sliced through a tree and was once again pulled back and twirled around Magen's side.

Shino had no solution to this battle. He tried close attacks but Magen dominated him in that area. He tried sending his insects to slow her down, but when he did, he would have to also keep his concentration on the deadly sword that kept coming for him, and whenever he would dodge it and turn his attention back to Magen and his insects, she would be gone and be on another branch near him and once again Shino had to maneuver for his life.

Shino also tried slicing through the ribbon, which also didn't work. The ribbon seemed to be coated with chakra, which his knife could not slice through. Shino concluded that the only way for him to win this fight is to talk himself out of it or help would come to save him.

Little did he know that one of those things was going to save him after all. But he needed to act fast, or he would slow down from exhaustion and it would be over for him. He knew that he couldn't just keep dodging forever.

Just when the sword took out another tree and just missed Shino's leg, he lost his concentration and almost lost his footing on a small branch. Before the branch snapped from under the pressure, Shino looked over to see the sword stuck in a very large tree trunk. It looked like it cut in too deep then it meant too. Using this as an opportunity, Shino quickly jumped off of the flimsy branch and landed right in front of Magen.

Magen scowled and gave the ribbon another good tug while Shino pulled out his kunai. Just then Shino noticed Magen's eyes quickly dart down to his wound on his arm, the blood staining his sleeve. Shino also notice Magen shudder slightly.

But before he could say or do anything, Magen's tug brought the sword free and came hurdling towards him. So quickly that it would be impossible for him to jump away in time. But as if in slow motion he watched as Magen rose her free arm up and caught the sword by the blade, deeply cutting her hand. The blood trickling down her arm and onto the branch they stood on.

Shino stood there in confusion but soon understood what happened when Magen once again threw the sword in another direction then heard a yelp from a familiar voice.

"What the?" Called the voice again.

Just then four figures appeared on a nearby tree. Kiba, Akamaru, Hinata, and Sensei Kurenai stood on different branches and stared at their attacker. The sword just missed them while they entered the area, taking out a few branches on the way. Shino quickly jumped away and landed beside Kiba, careful not to take his eyes off his temporary enemy at this point.

Magen gathered up the ribbon and caught the sword by the hilt. Shino watched as her eyes slowly traveled to her bloodied hand where the sword had sliced her when she caught it before. Magen's eyes widened and her body began to tremble.

Kiba growled, obviously not noticing how Magen reacted to her wound. "What is your problem?" He shouted. "You almost killed Shino! AND us!"

Kiba was just about to continue his rant about Magen's attack when suddenly Hinata landed beside him and placed her hand on his shoulder. Kiba's head jerked over to Hinata and gave a questioning look. Hinata slowly shook her head as if to say 'that's enough Kiba', and then gestured her arm towards Magen.

Kiba raised his head and watched in shock as Magen fell to her knees and burst into tears. Her hands flew up to her face and quickly covered her eyes as the streams of tears poured out from between her fingers and soak her gloves.

Hinata frowned and jumped to the branch where Magen was breaking down. Sensei Kurenai soon joined her to the displeasure of Kiba. "Why are they helping her?" He growled. "Women make no sense."

Shino ignored this and watched as Hinata and Kurenai picked Magen up and supported her with their shoulders. Magen fell limp between them and seemed to be in a daze. Something was not right here, thought Shino. And he wanted to find out what.

"Let's head back!" Called Sensei Kurenai and the two boys followed the three girls through the forest.

As they were jumping through the branches, Shino played back the battle in his head. The one thing that was very curious was the way she stopped the blade before it collided with Shino. She could have very easily killed him and the others in one movement. So why did she stop herself when she had such a clear shot?

Shino shook his head, now agreeing with Kiba. Women really _do_ make no sense.

* * *

Mitsuki P.O.V.

"So guys, when do we eat?" I asked, dropping my hands to my sides. "Right now!" Kankarou said, and the three of us walked out of the room. I knew that all this was was a chance for the stupid elders to see me, and see my behavior. I mentally flipped them off and continued walking.

We approached a large set of doors and entered into the main dining room. Gaara sat at the head of the table, and Kankarou and I sat to his left and right. I figured that I was sitting where Temari usually did, but she wasn't due home for a few days.

"Itadakimasu!"

They all started eating, and though I ignored them and stared out one of the large windows instead, watching the setting sun. I felt the eyes of many of the people in the room on me.

'Stupid people, stop staring!' I screamed in my mind. Just the staring reminds me of the attack at the hidden rain village. It was on one of the only two days of the year where it just a light rain…

"_Mitsuki! Hey, look! They're having a 'most adorable little girl' contest! The prize is…wow! I've never seen that many zeros in my life! Well, not that I have a possibility of having in my pockets anyways." Magen said pointing at a flyer. I smiled._

"_You should be in it!" I said giggling. Magen sighed and shook her head. "No, the age limit is at 11. I'm 12 now." She said._

"_That's no fun!" I pouted. Magen grinned. "We need the money right Mitsuki?" I nodded. Magen ran towards the place where people were signing up. I stood where I was, confused._

"_Mitsuki come on!" Magen shouted. I shrugged my shoulders and ran towards Magen, who was signing a piece of paper. I looked over her shoulder and saw her writing…my name!_

"_Magen!" _

_Magen didn't answer me; she only thanked the woman behind the table and dragged me over to a large building. I stared at her as she started picking out an outfit from a large rack. She held it up to me and nodded. _

"_Yep, this'll do!" She stated cheerfully. My mouth dropped as she said it, and I shook my head violently._

"_Magen no!" I whispered harshly. Magen grinned at me. "You said it yourself, we need the money, and I'm too old! If I win and they figure out I'm too old I'll be disqualified. You're perfect!" I sighed. It was true we needed the money, and everything else Magen said was true too. I nodded._

"_I'll do it." Magen smiled brightly. "Perfect! Now, go put this on!" She said, and shoved a dark purple dress at me._

* * *

"_Ladies and gentlemen, here is your chosen winner, Miss Mitsuki Aoyama!" _

_I blinked three times as I was ushered forward, towards the man with a tiara and a bunch of flowers. 'My last name isn't Aoyama…!' I thought. Magen winked at me from the crowd and I understood. They wouldn't let an 11 year old girl with no last name that randomly appeared in their village in the contest! _

_I walked up to the man, and torches lit up around the huge room. Everyone stared at me and clapped, as the man gave me the money, told me to give it to my mommy when I got home, and went to place the tiara on my head._

"_Mitsuki duck!" _

_I ducked as a kunai whizzed right through where my head just was. I looked into the crowd and saw a man with a long black cloak on walking towards the stage; I could see the kunai in his hands. I sensed someone behind me trying to grab me, and my arm lashed out and hit him. _

"_Don't touch me!" I yelled, turning to see the man who had given me the money glaring at me. The other girls in the contest had run, and the crowd was in frenzy. They all quickly exited the room, and any rain ninja who were there went to take care of the screams heard outside. Magen was fighting the man in the cloak and I saw ninja in the distance. The award man went at me with a kunai and I screamed, my hands flying up to protect my face. _

"_What th-!" _

_I heard the man scream and I looked up, to see the man on fire! He did a water jutsu and extinguished the fire, and then he moved back to me. I didn't see him because I had turned to try and find Magen, who I saw laying on the ground, closer to me than she had been before. He smirked and grabbed me by the throat._

"_Just what the hell are you kid? How'd you do that?" He snarled. I had tears threatening to stream down my face, but I blinked them away. I shrugged pitifully._

"_It's…in…my…blood." I muttered. He threw me across the room and I felt arms go around me, saving me from crashing. I looked up to see silver hair, but before it could register in my mind who it was, I fainted from blood loss. _

Magen and I had woken up in the hospital later, fully healed, and we escaped out the window. I found that I still had the money, so we ended up getting our supplies in the next village. I never did remember who that guy was, though I know for a fact that I should know him, and did know him at one point in my life.

"Mitsuki? Are you alright?"

I looked back from the window to see Gaara looking back at me, along with Kankarou and just about everyone else in the room.

"Huh? Oh yeah, I'm great! Just taking a trip down memory lane!" I said, faking a grin. That wasn't one of my best memories. Kankarou and the elders nodded at me, and continued eating. Gaara stared at my face and I felt heat coming to my cheeks. Yeah, I never did well when cute guys stared at me.

"Hn. You are lying."

My eyes widened slightly, but my expression fell back into the usual happy look, and I stood up.

"I'm sorry, but I need to be excused." I said. Not waiting for an answer I walked back to the room. I needed some air. I felt Gaara's eyes on me the whole time.

* * *

I stepped back into the room, closed the door, and kicked off the socks I had been wearing. I decided that the kimono didn't have any sentimental value to me and I didn't really care if something happened to it so I would take it off after I got back inside. From the balcony I climbed up onto the roof, sending chakra into my feet to walk up the wall. I lay down and looked up at the sky, the stars shining brightly again.

"Suna nights are the best thing about this place." I said to myself after several minutes, grinning.

"Hn."

I shot up and turned to see Gaara looking back at me.

"Stalker." I said, smiling slightly.

"Hn. No. Kankarou followed you, and could not find you. I simply went to the place where I knew you were most likely to be." He said, not smiling at all.

"I was just joking." I said, Gaara nodding in understanding. "Sorry about ditching dinner." Gaara nodded again.

"Why?"

"Uh, cause I was invited to a fancy dinner and I left early?"

Gaara rolled his eyes at me. "No. What was your reason to lie to me; that is my question." I sighed, 'I knew that Gaara, I was avoiding the question!'

"I didn't?"

"Hn. You did."

"No I really was going down memory lane!"

Gaara glared at me, and I grinned stupidly. "Why did you say you were fine, when your eyes were so troubled?" He asked.

"They were not!" Gaara continued to glare at me. "Yes they were." I shook my head. "Uh uh!"

"Just answer my question." Gaara commanded. I nodded. "Fine. Because." I said. I stood up and walked towards the edge of the roof.

"Goodnight." I said, and I dropped off the side of the roof, back onto the balcony.

* * *

I woke up to the sound of someone knocking on my door. I threw the blankets over my head and groaned. It had been six days since the stone ninja had attacked, and I hadn't been able to sleep well since. And with the memory lapse I had last night things weren't getting any better. I heard the door creak open and someone walk in. I pretended to be asleep and prayed whoever it was would just go away.

"Ehem."

I lay still, still pretending to be asleep. The person sighed and shook my shoulder, trying to shake me awake. My eyes flew open and I saw Gaara about three inches away from my face. I blinked several times as he backed away, my cheeks bright red. He turned and walked towards the door.

"We're leaving for training in fifteen minutes. Get ready." He said as he left. I shot out of bed and closed the door, running to my closet. I pulled out my usual attire and brushed my always straight hair. I fastened my key around my neck and put my kunai holder on my right leg, leaving the other behind. I rushed out the door towards the main room where I figured I would find Gaara and Kankarou.

I approached Gaara and Kankarou from behind, and they turned to face me as I shouted hello. We walked out the door towards the training grounds, me looking around at all the sights. I had been in Suna for over a week and a half but I had been in the Kazekages home the whole time.

We arrived at the training grounds and I quickly spotted Temari. I waved at her and she waved back, both of us smiling. We all walked towards another part of the training grounds to a clearing beside a lake on one side and the forest on the other. I looked back at Gaara and his family confused. Temari smiled.

"We never got to see what you could do." She said. I grinned, this would be fun.

* * *

I stood across from Temari, both of us standing, waiting for the other to make a move. Temari sighed.

"So I guess I'm to make the first move?" She asked. Not giving me a chance to answer she took out her large fan and swung it, sending a strong wind at me. I smiled, she's strong. This would be interesting. I made the proper hand seals and put my hand on the ground, and a large rock wall appeared in front of me, blocking her attack. Temari's eyes widened slightly.

"That should have cut right through." I heard her mutter. I grinned as I made some hand seals; I knew I was going easy on her.

"Nenshou Kaze: Burning Wind!" I shouted, and fire and wind flew at Temari. She smirked and whipped out her fan, trying to blow away the attack. She succeeded in making my attack connect with hers, causing an explosion. I took the dust to my advantage and focused chakra into my feet. I felt her only a few feet away and launched several kunai. I heard a hit and I jumped into the air. I surveyed the ground as I almost floated in midair, and spotted her, and some blood around her.

She spotted me and blew another attack at me. I was thrown backwards towards a tree, but I shot off of it and flew towards her. I pulled out a katana and sliced at her with it. I cut her arm and she swung at me with her fan. I moved my hand slightly and chakra surrounded my katana. I sliced at her fan, as a gust of wind flew at it at the same time, cutting her fan in half. Her eyes widened and then she smirked, and pulled out a few shuriken.

I grinned. "Well this is certainly unfair." She grinned back at me. "Nope, I'll still win in the end!" I smiled.

"Let's go!"

* * *

Magen's P.O.V.

I was SO humiliated.

I sat in my room punching down on my pillow. Well it wasn't exactly MY room and MY pillow, but it will do for the time being.

I gave the innocent pillow one last punch and then raised my hand to face level. I studied the bandage that was wrapped around the deep cut that was the cause of my embarrassment. It was a good thing I had an extra pair of gloves, because the other one was ruined.

I sighed and lowered my hand once more before falling face first into the pillow. The sun was starting to rise and I haven't gotten any sleep at all since that humiliation a few hours ago. I growled at the memory and gripped the pillow before throwing it across the room.

I then looked towards the window. The sun was rising. It would be too late to go to bed now. I frowned as my eyes drifted towards the dresser where my sword sat comfortably in their protective sheaths. The belt loop tying them together, a white and black sword.

I laughed to myself at the concept of two totally opposite swords being stuck together. A sword created with a life, and a sword that was the cause of death. A sword that has been used everyday in its life and a sword that has only been used once and will only be used once again someday, and when that day comes I will no longer have a burden of carrying two swords.

My fists clenched tightly at that idea, feeling blood seep through the bandage from the cut.

* * *

After Shizune fetched me from my room and said that Tsunade needed to have a word with me, I knew right away what it was. I stood outside Tsunade's door, readying myself for her famous short temper which I have seen many times before.

Then without knocking, I opened the door and stepped right up to her desk. Tsunade was once again knee high in paperwork. Which wasn't good for me, I could tell that she hated paperwork and she would take her anger out on the nearest person to her, which unfortunately, was me.

I stood silently watching as Tsunade read over a piece of paper in her hands. She knew I was in here, why doesn't she look up? Say something? Old hag.

I couldn't take the silence anymore so I cleared my throat to get her attention. Tsunade slowly looked up from her paperwork finally. "Oh…" She said. "Magen, I didn't hear you come in."

I snarled. "Well I didn't want to disturb your hard work." I said with as much sarcasm as I could muster.

Tsunade seemed to shrug it off to my surprise and placed the paper that was in her hands onto a tall pile of paper to her left. "I bet you're wondering why I called you down here."

"I have an idea." I mumbled to myself.

Tsunade glared at me from the corner of her eye. I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

Tsunade then sighed and sat back in her chair. "Sensei Kurenai came to me this morning explaining the incident from that night. Care to explain?"

"I'd rather not."

Tsunade twitched with irritation. "Fine." She breathed. "Of course that you will be punished for trying to kill your own teammate."

"He's not my teammate." I added.

"Oh yes he is. All of them are and you will learn to act like a team if you like it or not." Tsunade watched me with satisfaction as I glared at her. "So for your punishment," She continued "you and your _teammates _will be assigned missions each day until you learn how to become a team." She grinned. "But these missions will be easy for you right master swordswoman?"

* * *

It has been a week since that horrible hag assigned us these countless missions. Not to mention stupid and pointless missions! They consisted on mostly capturing small time thieves. Missions that I barely used any effort at all in. And it wasn't helping my "teamwork" either.

For the first few days I got nothing but glares of hate from Kiba, complete silence from Hinata, and Shino wouldn't stop staring at me.

It was on the fourth day when we were on a mission to retrieve an escaped bandit when the team finally started to talk to me. Which was a nice change in a way; I'd rather have a conversation then being glared at all the time. But I was used to being hated.

We only spoke in small talk though. Of course it was still awkward between us, since I tried to kill them. Well that's what they thought anyways. Once in a while they would ask me questions about my past. Questions like where did I live and how did I meet Mitsuki.

I lied to all of those questions of course.

* * *

"Hey Kiba you excited about your birthday tomorrow?" Hinata asked cheerfully.

Kiba grinned. "Damn straight I am. And I got a great plan on what to do!"

"Oh?" Shino asked.

Kiba nodded. "I just recently found this awesome place near my home! It's a small pond with a lot of cool plants and stuff around it."

"Sounds pretty." Hinata awed.

Kiba grinned with pride. "Ya and I couldn't believe I found it! You guys should all come down tomorrow and we'll go for a swim!"

Hinata smiled warmly. "Okay Kiba."

Kiba looked over to Shino silently, his eyebrow quirked as he waited for an answer.

Shino looked straight ahead silently for a moment. "I'll come, but I won't swim."

Kiba groaned. "Shino you party pooper! It can't be just me and Hinata swimming!"

Hinata made a small sound like a squeak that made the two boys look down at her with raised eyebrows. She fidgeted with her shirt. "W-well what about… what about M-Magen?"

Kiba scowled. He still hasn't warmed up to Magen yet. And he defiantly didn't want her at his party. "She isn't invited."

Hinata frowned and looked over to Magen who was sitting on a log further away; they were taking a lunch break in between their missions. "B-But she is part of the team now… shouldn't we… you know… be friends with her?"

Kiba laughed but quickly stopped after the looks he was getting from his teammates. He cleared his throat. "But…"

"Hinata is right. We should invite her." Shino said calmly.

Kiba sighed in defeat. "Fine, we'll invite her." He pointed a finger at Hinata. "But you have to be the one to ask her because it was your idea!"

Hinata smiled and bowed her head. "Thank you Kiba." Then she turned and skipped off towards where Magen sat.

* * *

There you go! Please review! Nicely!


	9. Chapter 9

Hope you enjoy!

Disclaim: I don't own Naruto.

Mitsuki P.O.V.

I launched several kunai; Temari blocked all of them but one, which hit her arm, just grazing it.

"Temari, we can quit if you need to!"

"Like hell! Come on Mitsuki, I'm not through yet!"

Temari ran at me, and I jumped into the air, I knew Temari would follow. She did. I grabbed out a kunai, and I looked for her. She appeared behind me in a flash, and I turned, just as we landed.

"So, you still think I'm done?" She asked smirking. I smiled a small smile.

"Never!"

I twisted and sliced the kunai backwards, aiming for her upper arm, or shoulder.

"Damn!"

I looked to see Temari with a cut on her shoulder blade, and I put the kunai back. Temari picked up her fan and started hitting at me with it.

"Big steel fan! Eep!" I said, laughing quietly. I did some hand signs, and threw my senbon up in the air. They came crashing down on Temari, who used her fan as an umbrella to avoid the attack.

"Well, here goes this then!"

I ran out onto the water of the lake, pushing chakra into my feet. Temari followed me, and I smiled. My hands moved quickly, and as my hand signs finished, a large wall of water came down on Temari. Her eyes widened in shock, and she tried to jump away, only to find that the water had hold on her feet.

Gaara and Kankarou watched for their sister, and she reappeared, climbing back onto the surface of the water. "Not bad. For a thief."

I glared. 'It was out of necessity! I had no choice!' I thought angrily. She charged at me, and sliced at me with a katana. I pulled out some more senbon and sliced back at her, managing to get a few hits in.

"You never give up, do you?" She asked. I glared. She went at me again with her katana, smirking.

I dodged, and then jumped into the air one last time. I made my hand seals and threw my white senbon. I attached chakra strings to them, and whipped them towards Temari, a blast of wind following, and they went at her at all sides.

She was hit with many senbon, and fell towards the ground. She landed just before I did, though she landed on her back. She stood up, and ran towards me. We were nearing the forest, and I kicked her in the stomach as she went to hit me with some kunai. She rammed back into the tree, and I walked up to her, placing the cold metal of my kunai at her neck.

"I. Am. Not. A. Thief." I hissed.

Gaara and Kankarou walked towards us, and I moved back from Temari, walking back towards the way we had come. Gaara smirked.

"Winner…Mitsuki."

I threw my things on the floor and went into the bathroom to take a shower. I was so sick of people judging me!

'Though it was with good reason. I mean, we did steal, but I mean, if they were hungry and hadn't eaten in days and were hungry wouldn't they steal? It was necessity!' I thought, shouting out the last part on accident. Outside the door Gaara flinched at the volume of my shout.

I started humming as I washed my hair, and eventually starting singing the whole song. I finished my hair and washed the grime from the fight off of my body, and just stood under the water for a bit. I got out and dried myself off, and wrapped the towel around my body. I walked back into the room to get into my pajamas and go to bed, and found Gaara sitting on the bed.

"WHAT THE HECK IS WITH PEOPLE?" I shouted. Gaara looked up at my still sort of dripping form, and I swear he blushed. Oh wait, flushed. Guys don't blush. At least that's what Magen told me. Gaara turned away from me and I walked into the closet and changed quickly in the dark.

"Hn. Are you done yet?" I heard him ask. I sighed. "Kazekage-sama. If I was done, I wouldn't be standing in my closet anymore now would I?" I replied in question. I threw on a light purple robe over my pajamas and walked out of the closet. Gaara stared at me.

"Now what did you need?" I asked, pulling a chair out from under the desk and sitting down on it, the chair backwards.

"Hn. You beat my sister." He said. I nodded.

"No really."

"Yes you did."

A small barely there grin made its way to my face. "I know Kazekage-sama, I was being sarcastic." Gaara nodded.

"I see."

"…"

"Hn. You must not know how irregular it is for someone to beat Temari."

I shook my head.

"This would only be the third time."

I looked confused, so Gaara decided to elaborate.

"She lost once to Nara Shikamaru, once to you, and once to me." He said. I nodded. "Okay." Gaara smirked. "Hn. Okay."

"So now I have a question."

"Hn."

"Is the only reason you walked in on me while I was in a towel so you could tell me that I beat your sister?"

"Technically you walked in on me. I was sitting here; you came in in a towel yourself." I blushed; I walked myself right into that one. "And no. I would still like to know why you lied to me last evening."

I sighed. He just had to bring this back up. Dang it Gaara, when a person jumps off a roof to get away from a subject you don't bring it back up!

"About me saying I was fine when I wasn't?" I asked, knowing the answer.

"Hn." Sure enough, I was right. Darn.

"Well, the reason I lied, is because it was a nice dinner and I didn't want everyone to feel awkward cause I was being weird!" I said, lying again. Gaara nodded.

"And why were you so troubled." He asked the second question I didn't want to answer. I shrugged.

"Separation anxiety."

Gaara nodded again, and stood up, walking towards the door. Just before he exited he turned back to look at me, I was now sitting on the bed.

"Hn. One day I will get the truth from you. But for now, I suppose this will do." He said, and then he was gone, the door shutting behind him. The only evidence that he was here was a warm spot on the bed, where he had been sitting. I climbed under the covers, and went to sleep.

"No, Kazekage-san, you never will get the truth."

Magen's P.O.V.

One of my favorite hobbies was listening in on other people's conversations. I knew it was rude and I tried to stop for some time now, but today it was just to good of an offer to put down to listen in on my teammates conversation about inviting me to Kiba's party.

I waited until Hinata was in ear shot when I answered the question she was dieing to ask. "No." I said blandly and closed my bento box I made for lunch today.

Hinata looked a little taken aback. She stepped closer, "P-pardon?"

I sighed and got to my feet, my back facing the shy Hyuuga. "I said no. I don't want to go to your little get together."

Hinata frowned. "How did you know I was going to ask that?"

I tried to hold back a snicker and failed. Hinata tilted her head to the side, still confused. "Please come Magen." She said quietly.

I slowly turned to face Hinata. "I don't do swimming."

Hinata giggled. "Well neither does Shino. But you can come just to hang out. Please."

I scowled. The last thing I wanted to do was "hang out" I didn't want a relationship with anyone. Only to be just teammates. "No." I said again.

Hinata frowned again and turned away. "O-okay… I won't bother you anymore then." And she slowly walked away. I clenched my teeth. No don't feel bad Magen! I screamed in my head. But I couldn't help it. "Fine" I breathed "I'll come to your silly party."

Hinata whipped around with her face beaming. "Really?"

"Yes." I closed my hands into fists. "But I'm not buying that mutt lover anything!" I quickly added.

It was just like as I heard. In fact it was more beautiful then Kiba described. The small body of water sparkled with the tiny rays of light that seeped through the branches of the tall plants surrounding the place. I watched with little interest as little orange and black fish swam around in the pond.

I walked there with Hinata. At 8:45 she showed up at Shizune's door to pick me up. Still half asleep (not having a good nights sleep before because of all the missions, thank god Tsunade gave us the day off today when she found out that it was Kiba's birthday) I got dressed into my bathing suit and followed here to Kiba's house. Shino was talking to Kiba while waiting outside for us.

He led us to his backyard and in a 10 minute walk we reached this spot. Right away Kiba and Akamaru jumped into the water, disturbing the fish.

Hinata giggled while Shino and I stepped back to avoid the water flying everywhere. Kiba laughed and beckoned us to come in. Hinata obeyed and jumped in timidly. Kiba awed Hinata's figure through her blue, one piece bathing suit before glaring up at Shino and I.

"You guys coming in or what?" He snarled. "You guys look like no fun at all." Which was true. Unlike Kiba and Hinata, who showed a lot of skin with their bathing suits, I wore a pair of black swim trunks that fell down to my knees and a grey tee-shirt. Shino wore a pair of green swim trunks and a baggy grey tee-shirt. Not to mention that I still wore my white hat and Shino wore his sunglasses.

"Do you always wear those glasses?" I asked Shino.

"Do you always wear that hat?" He asked me.

My eyes narrowed. "Touché bug boy."

"Come in!" Kiba called again.

"I don't do swimming." I crossed my arms looking down into my reflection in the water in front of me.

"Yes you do." I heard before feeling a hand on my back which pushed me face first into the water. I yelped as I surfaced the water and glared up at the culprit. "Why'd you do that?" I screamed at Shino.

Shino shoved his hands into the trunks pockets and shrugged. "I don't know what you mean."

I trembled as I felt a fish brush against my leg. Hinata covered her mouth to hide her laughter as Kiba burst out laughing at my dripping frame. I seethed with anger and knew I had to get revenge.

"Well if I have to go for a swim…" I began with a touch of mischief to my tone.

Shino readied himself thinking he would be pulled into the water.

And with quick movement of my arm, I sent a huge splash Shino's way. Bringing his arms up to block his face, I watched with amusement. When he lowered his arms he still had droplets of water on his glasses. He turned around to take them off and wipe them down on a dry spot on his shirt, but when he turned back around he came face to face with me. Our noses an inch apart.

But before he could back away he felt himself being pulled into the water. When he emerged, to everyone's amusement, a fish flopped on his head before rolling back and landing into the water beside Shino.

Everyone counting myself burst out laughing. Kiba fell back into the water clenching his sides and Hinata could no longer hide her giggles. I grinned with satisfaction.

"That was unnecessary." Said Shino as he straightened out his glasses.

I shrugged with an innocent expression plastered on my face. "I don't know what you mean."

That little event seemed to break the ice between us. Because afterwards we hung out as if we were all best friends. Splashing and swimming about. The water wasn't that bad, in fact it was refreshing after a long week of work. 

"Magen… why are you wearing your hat?" Asked Kiba.

I tensed up and ceased my splashing war with Hinata. I couldn't think of a good excuse in time without looking suspicious.

"I'm wearing my sunglasses." Said Shino.

I whipped my head around and watched Shino as he defended me from the dreadful question.

"Yea but you always wear your glasses." Kiba said matter-of-factly.

"Then Magen always wears her hat." Shino replied.

Kiba stood in silence for a moment and then thought better of it and changed the subject. I stared at my savoir, if that's what you want to call it, for a little longer then needed, because Shino noticed my stare and looked my way. I gulped and quickly turned back to Hinata. Hiding something that I haven't done in many years. Blush.

Mitsuki P.O.V.

I sat back against the tree, the wind rushing through my hair. I was sitting in one of the only places in Suna where there are actually some woods. I heard a noise behind me and jumped up.

"No need to be afraid child."

An old woman appeared from behind a tree. I relaxed, knowing I could handle an old woman who probably spent more time sewing than fighting. She smiled at me and sat down, and motioned for me to sit next to her. I did.

"So child, why are you here alone?" She asked. I shrugged.

"I'm not really sure." I replied.

"So you are here by yourself?"

"Yep."

She grinned. It wasn't the happy kind of grin, and it made me uneasy. I moved away and she stood up.

"Why, whatever is wrong child?" She asked, moving towards me as I moved away. I shook my head.

"N-nothing. Um, I'm sorry but I have to go now." I said, and ran off. I didn't like the vibe I had been getting from that old lady, not at all. The woman sighed and moved the watch on her hand towards her mouth.

"She ran."

The speaker in her ear that looked like a hearing aid vibrated before she heard her answer.

"Damn. Its fine, we'll get her later. Regroup. We'll figure out a new plan to get her. You're sure she's the one that's staying with the Kazekage?"

"Yes, positive. I saw her just last week, she's the same girl."

"Good. It has to be her, or we won't get the ransom money."

I ran back towards the house but was stopped by a young man just as I got near the outside of the trees.

"Ma'am, you do know that this is a dangerous part of Suna. You shouldn't be alone." I nodded.

"Yeah I know, I'm on my way back…back now." I hesitated at my urge to say home. The man smirked.

"No. You're going to have to come with me."

My hand went for a kunai as he pulled out a dagger. He ran towards me and tried to stab me in the shoulder, but I blocked him with my kunai.

"Damn kid! You aren't supposed to be a ninja!" He shouted. I frowned.

"So you just attack people randomly for fun?" He smirked.

"When they live with the Kazekage, you bet I do!" He ran towards me, continuously trying to stab me with the dagger. He cut into my right arm and I stabbed him in the gut. He clenched his jaw before he backed away.

"So, still wanna attack me?" I asked smirking. He glared and jumped towards me, dagger out trying to hit me. I flipped over him and landed behind him. I forced the dagger out of his hand and stabbed him in the stomach again.

"Y-you win…" He said, before he slumped to the ground. I picked him up and drug him towards the jail. I dropped him outside the door and knocked before walking back towards the Kazekage's house.

I walked into the Kazekage's home and went into the kitchen. Nobody was sitting at the table, and nobody was washing dishes from lunch. I glanced into the family room and nobody was there, so I went up to Temari's room. I knocked on the door and no one answered.

"Okay, this is weird." I said to myself, and walked up a set of stairs to the Kazekage's office. I knocked on the door and it was thrown open by Temari. She pulled me into the office and gave me a hug. She backed away and I stared at her, confused.

"Uh, what's up?" I asked. Temari and Kankarou sighed, and both smiled. I looked at Gaara who was smirking, I wondered slightly if it was a happy smirk or an annoyed one.

"Thank God." Kankarou said. I turned to him.

"What?"

"Three hours ago you left without telling us where you were going." Temari said. I nodded.

"So, I do that all the time. I know you guys are like my babysitters but come on, don't worry so much!" I said grinning. Temari and Kankarou frowned and Gaara glared. Gaara threw something at me and I caught it.

"Three hours ago you left without telling us where you were going. Two hours ago we received that."

I read over the paper that he had thrown at me.

Kazekage,

We have the girl whom is living with you. For her safe return we require a sum of $10,000,000. We will send something to give you further information on the ransom drop.

I dropped the paper back on his desk and sighed.

"I'm so sick of people attacking me!" I shouted.

"Huh?"

I turned to Temari. "Oh yeah, you weren't here, I figured they told you. I got attacked by some stone nin that thought I was you. And I got attacked again today by some guy, probably the guy that wanted me for the ransom. Oh and there was this old lady that I got like an awful vibe from."

Temari Kankarou and Gaara stared at me. Temari smirked. "You sure do get attacked a lot." I nodded.

"Please don't remind me." I muttered. "I'm going to take a nap. I'll be upstairs if you need me." I turned and walked upstairs, mumbling about stupid jerks that like to attack me.

There you go! Please review! Nicely!


	10. Chapter 10

Hope you enjoy!

Disclaim: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

I couldn't believe how perfect this moment was. It was like picture perfect, like on commercials, with all those cheesy smiles and fake laughter. As corny as that sounds, it felt just right with me. But I got too pulled into it, and it soon turned around to a disaster.

"Ah!" Screamed Hinata as me and Kiba splashed her simultaneously. She giggled and tried to splash back. Kiba laughed but then fell back when Akamaru pulled him by the shorts and the two wrestled in the water. I continued to splash Hinata un aware what was about to happen next.

"Ow!"

I wiped the water from my eyes and my vision cleared to see Hinata sitting in the water gripping her hand. I was speechless at first as her teammates surrounded her for comfort.

"Hinata? Are you okay? Where are you hurt?" Asked Kiba and Shino, bent down to check if there was any damage done.

"I'm okay…" Winced Hinata. "Its just a scratch." She held out her open hand to revile a deep cut that she must have sliced on a rock when she fell. I stared in horror as the blood trickled down from her palm and into the water, the content spreading and causing the water around Hinata's knee to turn red.

Kiba got up and started to climb out of the water. "I will go get some bandages." He called out as he ran towards his house.

Shino helped Hinata to her feet, which was holding her wrist, the blood now dripping down her arm, collected by the water.

My body began to tremble as my eyes widened at the site. My mind began to whirl. I knew who ever I got close to I would end up hurting.

_Monster!_

"No…" I said with fear in my eyes, starting to back away from the two who were now looking up at me with curious expressions.

_Get away from us!_

"Magen? What's wrong?" Asked Hinata who took a step forward."

_Look what you did! Get away!_

I took another step back. "I'm sorry." I said quietly, holding out my arms as if to keep Hinata away. My legs felt week and I stumbled as I stepped back again. My eyes began to fill with tears.

_NO! DON'T KILL ME!_

"It's just a scratch Magen. I'm fine. It's okay." Hinata held out a comforting hand, my eyes darted to the cut on her palm.

_MONSTER!_

"I didn't mean to!" I screamed, to no one in particular. "I'm sorry!" And with that I dashed out of the water and ran away.

I let my guard down, as I often did and I ran away. I was a coward and a lost cause. I knew I shouldn't have come. I knew I shouldn't have gotten carried away. I can't get close to anyone can I!

I didn't know where I was running or care that I was soaking wet. I needed to get away. I ran right past Kiba who was jogging back towards the pond. He called after me as he watched me disappear from sight.

* * *

I wouldn't have stopped running if that letter didn't smack me in the face. I stumbled backwards, bewildered and confused to what just came in contact with my nose and was blocking my view. I pulled the letter from my face and beamed with relief. The letter was from Mitsuki.

I looked around to see where I was and fortunately I was alone at the training grounds. I walked towards a tree and leaned on its trunk, then fell down onto the ground; my legs tucked underneath me, and opened the letter, everything else from before vanishing from my mind for that short moment of peace.

* * *

After reading that letter I felt relieved that Mitsuki was okay and that everything was going well for her over there. Besides the whole pervert attack and I wasn't happy about that at all. After reading that I felt a surge of dread and felt useless once again. I wasn't there to protect Mitsuki once again. But I knew she could take care of herself.

I sat there under the tree in silence for a while. I didn't know how long I was there and I didn't care. I wanted everything else to dissolve around me and leave me here with nothing but the sound of the wind swaying the branches and the soft grass underneath me. But that fantasy disappeared when I sensed a body towering over me. I looked up to see Tsunade.

"Having fun?" She asked. I studied her expression carefully and to my surprise I found a hint of sympathy. That made me curious.

"What do you want?" I snapped, slightly irritated that Tsunade disturbed my daydreaming.

Tsunade frowned. "I just wanted to talk to you."

I crossed my arms and looked away. "What is there to talk about?"

Tsunade knelt down so she was about my height. "Your team came into my office about 30 minutes ago. Claiming that they couldn't find you. I asked why you were missing and they explained…" She trailed off.

The image appeared in my mind once more. Blood trickling into the water. Hinata getting hurt. I tensed up. Tsunade noticed this and sighed, still frowning. "You know when I first met you, the first thing I thought was that you were a stubborn little girl who was disrespectful and rude."

I scowled. She was insulting me?

"But I was wrong." She quickly added, noticing my scowl. "Well you were stubborn. But you were stubborn for the right reasons. You never gave up and you always trained. Ozu wouldn't stop blabbing how proud he was of you."

I inhaled sharply but didn't look Tsunade in the eyes.

She continued. "I remember watching you two go at it, fighting with those silly wooden swords. Ozu wanted you to try a real sword, but you kept refusing. I always wondered why."

I coughed slightly, knowing where this was going. Straining to hold back the tears that threatened to fall.

"Then you finally gave in and you two practiced with real blades." Tsunade hesitated. "You accidentally cut Ozu in the arm. Then when you saw the blood, you stood there screaming your sorry when Ozu tried to calm you down. It was as if you were screaming at someone else, as if you were scared of something. And when you saw the blood, you fell to the ground trembling and crying."

"I KNOW WHAT HAPPENED!" I screamed at her. My eyes were red with tears and I was on my feet now, my hands clenched into tight fists. "Did you just come here to make fun of me? To point out my flaws?"

Tsunade got to her feet now. I felt so small and week compared to her when she towered over me. Her stance threatening to punch me in the face but she kept her cool. Her shoulders relaxed as she spoke. "I felt so close to you that day Magen, you are afraid of blood too aren't you?"

I was just about to scream at her again but didn't. "Too?"

Tsunade nodded. "I too was afraid of blood. It isn't something to be ashamed of."

I glared at her. She had no idea, and yet she's talking to me as if she knows everything. I didn't want to talk or look at her anymore, instead I stomped right past her and walked away, leaving her behind in her own thoughts.

* * *

When I got to Shizune's house I was relieved that she wasn't home. She must be at Tsunade's office taking care of things while she's gone. After I got dried off and changed, I walked right into the kitchen to grab something to eat but I saw something at the corner of my eye. There sitting on the counter was a bottle of sake. I picked it up and studied it in my hands. Anger, guilt, loneliness, sadness, and dread filled my mind and I wanted them all to go away. I wanted to become numb, and that's what this drink did right? So with that thought I swigged back a huge gulp, feeling the side effects right away.

* * *

Mitsuki P.O.V.

I yawned as I got out of bed and walked into the bathroom. I had actually had a decent night's sleep, after I had thrown kunai at random objects for like three hours of course. I got dressed and brushed my teeth and hair and walked towards the kitchen.

"But Temari…"

I heard voices just inside the room and stopped to listen. I knew eavesdropping was wrong, but hey, can't blame me, it could be about me!

"No Tenten, I can't come back!"

I looked inside the room through the inch of space from where the door hadn't completely closed. There was a brown haired girl who I assumed was Tenten puppy dog pouting at Temari.

"Not even for a visit? Please?" She begged. Temari shook her head. "No."

"PLEASE?" Tenten shouted. Temari shushed her. "Shh, Mitsuki's still asleep upstairs." I chose that moment to walk into the room. I pushed the door aside and walked in and towards the fridge.

"What about me Temari?" I asked as I pulled out an apple. Temari smirked. "I thought you were asleep."

"Nope! Well, I was, but then I woke up!" I said cheerfully. I knew I shouldn't be, but I was warming up to Temari, definitely more than I should be. Temari nodded, and Tenten forced a cough, grinning.

"Oh yeah, Mitsuki, this is Tenten. Tenten Mitsuki, Mitsuki Tenten." Temari said pointing back and forth between me and Tenten. She stuck out her hand and I shook it nervously, noticing the Konoha forehead protector.

"So Mitsuki, where are you from?" She asked. My eyes widened and I turned and raced out of the room at an almost inhuman speed, memories flooding back.

* * *

"_So, this is where you live now eh?" A man asked me. I nodded slowly, looking at the small cabin I had been hiding out in. He shook his head._

"_Well this won't do dear." _

"_But…I've been fine…living here…" I whispered. The man shook his head again. _

"_Nope. Mitsuki you need a home. A real home." _

_Tears ran down my cheeks. "But, but momma and daddy…they died…how can I go back…" I whispered yet again. He bent down on his knees and wiped the tears off my cheeks. He smiled softly._

"_Mitsuki, you used to live in the village with your parents. Now you live here on the outskirts of our village all alone. It's not safe. I knew your parents well, they would not approve."_

"_But the villagers, they hate me!" I shouted, the tears falling again. "They hate me for killing them! I couldn't do anything! It was my fault! But I didn't mean to let them die!" The man pulled me into a hug, petting my head, trying to comfort me. _

"_It was my fault! I couldn't stop that man! It was my fault! They all hate me!" I screamed out, and then I broke out into hysterics. "I'm s-so so-sorry! I'm sorry! I'M SORRY!" I screamed over and over. I clung to the man, sobbing. _

"_Mitsuki it wasn't your fault. You are four years old! You couldn't do anything then, no! But one day you will find the man who hurt you and your parents and you will get your revenge and all will be well! But Mitsuki you cannot blame yourself for what has happened!" He said, pulling me away from him and staring deep into my eyes. _

"_But if I had been stronger! I could have saved them!" _

"_Mitsuki, you are four and a half years old. You flew out of a window from one of the hits that bastard gave you. When you went inside your parents had passed on. You are lucky you didn't die! You did what you could!" _

"_But they wanted me! He came outside looking for me! He wanted me because of that thing! Even my parents were always mad at me cause of the thing! The villagers hated my family cause of me! They all say it's my fault! ALL OF THEM!" I yelled, tears still falling down my pale cheeks. _

"_Don't listen to them. You are the last of your clan and you have survived much child. Do not blame yourself for their death." He said calmly. _

"_I don't even remember my clan name! Nobody does! All I know is momma and daddy said we were the last ones!" He pulled me back into his arms as I tried to run. _

"_Mitsuki, do you want a family again?" He asked. I looked up at him hopefully. _

"_You can bring mommy and daddy back?" He shook his head._

"_Sadly no. But would you like to become a part of my family?" _

_I nodded my head violently. _

"_Welcome to my family Mitsuki, you have been adopted." I smiled and we walked back towards my new home, hand in hand._

* * *

I jumped off the balcony and ran towards the lake I had found the other day. It was small, but it was surrounded by rocks and it was the perfect area for me to train myself. Twenty minutes later I had reached my spot. I pushed chakra into my feet and walked to the middle of the lake.

"Kage bunshin no jutsu!" I shouted, making the proper hand signs. This was the one forbidden jutsu I actually knew how to use. My father had taught it to me. Several clones appeared and ran towards me. I threw my hands up in the air and an igloo type shape of water surrounded me. My clones threw kunai and all sorts of weapons at me, and some senbon nearly got through, so I made some hand seals and the water dropped and was replaced by stone.

"Well me, what are you going to do now?" I asked.

"Not sure. I think I'll just wing it." I heard the reply. It wasn't my clone. I snapped my fingers and the stone wall and all of my clones disappeared. I turned around and stared into the smiling face of Tenten. She walked out onto the water and stood straight across from me.

"Nice place you got here." She said, looking around. I nodded.

"Yeah."

"Too bad I have a Hyuuga on my side, who can see-!"

"I know what they can see." I said. She nodded. "So you come here often?" I shrugged. "Sort of. This is like the third time I've been here."

"Does anyone know you're here?" I pointed at her. "I meant besides me, and Neji, he's the Hyuuga I mentioned." I shook my head. She grinned.

"Cool, well I won't tell anyone about your place if you agree that we're friends now!" She said, sticking out her hand as she had earlier. She was smiling brightly, and I sensed no ill will coming from her. I smiled back and shook her hand.

"So friend, wanna fight?"

* * *

After splitting up to search for Magen, Shino was now wondering the forest to where he saw her last time she ran away. He studied the fallen trees where Magen's sword destroyed between their huge battle.

He replayed their last encounter through his head. He couldn't get her expression she wore when she saw Hinata's cut. She looked so terrified; it gave him an uneasy feeling. He shook his head in an attempt to erase that image but failed. Shino sighed and continued his search.

It wasn't long before he spotted a silhouette in the distance. He quickened his pace but kept his footsteps quiet, sneaking up on the stranger. Maybe it was Magen.

It was when he got just close enough to interpret who the silhouette was, that he knew the person was drunk.

The stranger had a sway in its step and seemed to be mumbling to itself. Shino stopped when he heard the person's voice. He recognized it right away. It was Magen.

"Magen?" Shino took a step closer.

Magen twirled around, almost loosing balance, a white bottle in her hand. Her eyes widened once she saw who it was. "Shino?" She gasped then giggled. Her voice slurred. "You stalker. Following me in the night."

Shino was confused. Where did she get the alcohol? He never pictured Magen being a drunk. He held out a hand. "Common lets get you home."

Magen laughed and smacked the hand away. "Your funny bug boy. I like that in men, funny AND smexy." She took another swig of the drink in her hand and then looked into the bottle and frowned. "It's all gone."

Shino rolled his eyes behind his glasses and held out his hand once more. "I'm taking you home."

Magen giggled and dropped the bottle in his hands, planted a kiss on his cheek then turned on her heel and headed in the other direction. Shino quickly pocketed the bottle to dispose of later and grabbed Magen's shoulder to stop her. That was a mistake.

As quick as he blinked he felt the coldness of the blade on his throat. Even when she was drunk Magen could handle her power perfectly. Shino stood completely still, looking down at the seriousness of Magen's face. It scared him.

It didn't last long though, soon she broke out in laughter and sheathed her sword. "Don't worry bug boy. I won't kill you." She said between laughs. "I don't want to kill anyone."

Shino relaxed but kept a close eye on her just in case. "That's not how you acted when you attacked me before." He referred to their last battle when she came so close to slicing his head off.

"Silly buggy!" She grinned and touched his shoulder lightly. "I was only trying to scare you away. I knew you could dodge all that attacks and stuffs." She swayed in one spot, a blush on her cheeks.

Shino raised an eyebrow. Magen continued. "But then when you didn't move the last attack I could let your little head get sliced off now could I?" She giggled. "Then Shino would have been allll over the trees!" She gasped loudly and started to giggle once again.

"So you stopped the blade with your hand." Shino said to himself.

"It was a good thing I put some chakra all ova my hand see? Or it would have gone right through my hand and I would have no fingers see?" She held up her gloved hand. "I wouldn't want to kill yous guys. I don't want to kill anyone. Not again."

"Not again?" Shino repeated.

"There's only…" she hiccupped. "There's only one person I want to kill." Magen then reached for her sword, Shino readied himself for an unpredictable attack. But this time Magen didn't pull out her white sword. This time she slowly pulled out the black handled sword and held it in front of her face, staring into her reflection on the dark red metal that sent a shiver up Shino's spine. That metal did not look right to him, there was something about it that made him feel uneasy.

Magen's expression turned serious and she began to speak in a low and calm voice. "You know this sword has only been used once?"

Shino stood in silence, curious to hear what she had to say next.

"The only blood it shed…" Magen voice trembled as she spoke, choking back tears. "The only people it killed were my parents."

Shino's eyes widened but he stayed silent. This was something she had to get off of her chest so he listened silently, Magen's past slowly unraveling itself.

"That… that BASTARD killed the only people who cared for me in that village." Magen's grip tightened on the handle as she spoke. "the only people that aided me when I came home with cuts a bruises from the rocks thrown at me by those other kids… the only people who comforted me when I felt alone and sad!"

Shino took a cautious step back not knowing what would happen next. Magen's whole body trembling with rage. "Magen…" He said softly, trying to comfort her.

"I will find the murderer who ruined my life and I will run his own blade…" She spoke through clenched teeth. "Through his heart!"

Shino found that he was no longer scared of her, but felt severe sympathy towards her. His arms itching to grab her into a hug, to calm her down in anyway he could. But he found that he could not move, Shino could not bear to do it. Instead he kept his calm composer.

Magen on the other end looked like she was ready to collapse. She slowly lowered the sword and let it dangle at her side. She swayed back and forth, her eyes going blank. "Those kids called me names… awful names…" She said quietly.

"What did they call you?" Asked Shino softly.

Magen looked up at him, a small smile on her lips. "I… I don't feel so good." And before Shino could react, Magen bent over and threw up right there. Shino quickly backed away, avoiding the vomit and rushed to Magen's side as she fell on all fours and coughed on the grass.

Shino leaned down and rubbed her back. He knew this was going to happen sooner or later.

Magen coughed. "Thanks…" and with that final word, she fell to her side and passed out.

* * *

Magen's P.O.V.

The first thing I noticed when I awoke was my bounding head. I winced and brought my hand up to my eyes, blocking the blinding light from the window. Window? I slowly sat up and got a good look at my surroundings. I was in my room, well my temporary room.

I blinked in confusion, trying to ignore the pounding in my brain and the nausea. I lifted the covers and noticed I was in my pajamas. What happened?

I was just about to get up when the door opened slowly and in peeked Shizune. She smiled when she saw me. "So you're up!"

I winced from the sound of her voice. "Shhh…" I said irritably.

"No I will not shush." Shizune crossed her arms. "You deserve the headache after stealing my sake and wandering around drunk!" She shook her head. "You are more alike Tsunade then you think."

I scowled and was just about to defend myself until it clicked in my mind. "I was drunk?" I mentally slapped myself for shouting, now my head hurt more then ever before. I lowered my voice. "What happened?"

Shizune giggled. "It was such a sight!" She clapped her hands together recalling the memory. I groaned in pain and wanted to smack her but listened patiently. "It was 1 in the morning when I hear a knock at the door. And what do I see is Shino carrying you in his arms. You were such a mess. Vomit all over you, I had to get you out of those clothes. Shino said he found you wandering around the forest." She shook her head.

I felt my face heat up with embarrassment. I shook my head too get the image of Shino carrying out of my head, which was a mistake. I groaned and slowly fell back into the pillows. Then something clicked in my brain. I gasped. "Wait, so if you changed me into these pajamas… that means you saw…" I gulped.

Shizune smiled softly. "Don't worry, I already know. Tsunade told me everything. Your secret is safe with me." She winked and turned to leave the room.

I sat there for a while, processing everything in slowly. What the hell did I do last night?

* * *

Mitsuki watched Tenten and Temari talk from the hallway. She had heard only a little, but from what she had heard not only had Tenten kept her promise and had not told Temari about Mitsuki's secret training grounds, she was asking Temari to go to the Leaf Village for a visit. Then something about some guy named Shikamaru.

"Mitsuki, it is not polite to eavesdrop."

Shit. Caught. Mitsuki cringed as she turned around to see Gaara staring at her, smirking.

"Howdy!" Mitsuki greeted. Gaara nodded and walked away, motioning for her to follow. She followed quickly and quietly, still wishing to know what Tenten and Temari were talking about. Gaara walked into his office and sat down at his desk, and Mitsuki sat in her usual chair. The doors were closed by some sand coming from the gourd on Gaara's back.

"Hn."

Mitsuki's attention went to Gaara, who was reading a piece of paper.

"Why were you eavesdropping on my sister and her friend?" Gaara asked. Mitsuki shrugged. "I dunno."

"Have you had someone escort you around the village yet?"

"No. I've been around though."

Gaara nodded in response. "Good. You will be helping the Konoha team that is here on a mission. You are to help apprehend a criminal whom has eluded capture four times already. He started his crime spree in Konoha, but escaped before the hokage could figure out who he was. That is why Neji and Tenten are here, it is there mission. They have been trying to find him, trying to figure out and stop his next move. His name is Itsuma Itaina. He has killed three people, and will try and kill you if you give him the chance."

Mitsuki nodded. "So this is just a test huh? I'm not that stupid." Gaara nodded. "No you are not. Yes, the elders are testing you. I wish you luck. Neji is the squad leader and will fill you in on the rest of the details."

Mitsuki nodded again and walked out the door.

* * *

Mitsuki P.O.V.

'Damn, it had to be another Hyuuga.' I thought, glaring at Neji.

"Do you have a problem with Hyuugas?" He asked.

'Damn, forgot about the stupid eye mind ready thing…'

"Yes you did."

'Damn!'

"You swear at people in your head a lot." He said, smirking. Tenten giggled beside me. I looked at her and grinned.

"So Tenten, where are we going?" I asked. "Huh? Oh! We're going to try and locate where his camp is! We have to split up here soon, but he should be easy to take down. If we can find him."

Fifteen minutes later we arrived at the outer location of where Itsuma's camp was supposedly at, in the forest outside Suna. Tenten took left Neji took right and I headed off straight. I pushed chakra into my feet and took off at a fast pace. I stopped in the middle of a clearing and looked around.

"Ah trees, how I have missed you."

"Well hello there sweetheart."

I jumped and quickly turned around at the mans voice. He sported a sand village headband and was dressed all in black. He walked towards me and I backed away. I jumped up onto a tree branch and stared down at him.

"Itsuma Itaina?" I asked. He smirked.

"I see you have heard of me. Yes. I am Itsuma."

I pulled out a kunai and threw it at him as he shot several shurikens at me.

"You know, you're pretty cute. You could come with me and have some fun." He said, smirking again. I stared at him, disgusted.

"What is up with all the fricken PERVS around here?" I screamed out, trying to get Neji and Tenten's attention. He glared.

"Signaling backup? Well then, we'll have to finish you off quickly." He made some hand seals and his eyes changed and so did the surrounding area. Twelve of him appeared then tripled, and the world around me swirled and tripled as well. He smirked.

"Well child, can you defeat me now, when you do not know which is the real me? You cannot tell without these eyes!" He said. I stared at his eyes desperately wishing to be able to see the real him as I dodged as many of the shuriken he was throwing at me as I could.

I continued to stare at his eyes, now just trying to figure out what they were, and how his clans kekkai genkai worked. I felt a sudden searing pain in my eyes as I stared, and I had to close them from the pain. I felt shurikens sink into my skin, but the pain was little compared to the pain I felt in my eyes. I screamed and clutched at my head, and then the pain just went away. I opened my eyes and Itsuma stared at me.

"H-how? How did you? That's impossible!" I looked around and realized that there was only one Itsuma, and the world was back to normal. I smirked; apparently during my moment of pain he had released his jutsu. He threw another round of shuriken at me, and I grabbed two in midair and threw one back.

"How?" He shouted again. I rolled my eyes. He was so annoying. I went to throw the shuriken at him, when I caught my reflection in it. I figured out quickly why Itsuma had been freaked out. My eyes matched his, an eerie orange red color, with six black horizontal lines. I threw the shuriken at him and it hit him directly on his forehead protector, and he fell back, the shock from his headband being hit smacking him in the temples.

The pain came back and I fell, and I felt myself being caught. I opened my eyes and Neji Hyuuga stared back at me, I could see a slight worried look in his eyes.

* * *

"You had his eyes. Why?" Neji asked, as we walked back towards Suna, him carrying me, and Tenten dragging Itsuma.

"I don't know…" I whispered. My head hurt so badly, and I was so confused. How had I done that? I had tried to walk, but had fallen down three times before Neji had picked me up and started to carry me towards Suna.

"Are you sure. His clan is from the tea country, and you are not from his clan are you? If you are you look nothing alike." He tried again. I shook my head slightly, then stopped because it made me light headed.

"I…I am the last of my clan…both…both of them…" I whispered, before I blacked out from exhaustion.

* * *

Normal P.O.V.

Mitsuki passed out and her head fell back. Neji looked down at her and then over at Tenten.

"Tenten, what do we know about this girl?" He asked. Tenten shrugged.

"Nothing. All I know is that apparently she's misunderstood, according to Temari. Temari also said that Gaara said that she seems to have had a rough past. Oh, and I know a few of her attacks. But if you're wondering if I think she's from the Itaina clan than no, I don't. She would've used her kekkai genkai when we sparred. She didn't." She said, remembering her spar. Neji nodded.

Neji and Tenten walked through the Suna gates, dropping off Itsuma with the guards. They walked towards the hospital and were met halfway there by none other than Gaara.

"What happened?" He asked. Neji shrugged.

"She passed out from exhaustion. She fought Itaina and defeated him, with his own kekkai genkai."

Gaara's eyes widened slightly, but then he went back to his usual stoic state.

"Hn."

He took Mitsuki from Neji and walked towards the hospital.

"Uh, Kazekage-sama, what would you like us to do?" Tenten asked. Gaara shrugged.

"Go back to my office. Fill out a report with Temari. I'm taking her to the hospital."

Neji and Tenten nodded and went off towards the building. Gaara looked down at the girl in his arms.

"What did you do to yourself…?" He asked her unconscious form. Her eyes fluttered open at the sound of his voice, but were still half-lidded. He was relieved to see that they were purple orbs once again.

"Kazekage-san…" She started, stopping to take in a deep breath.

"Hn." Was his reply, as he continued walking. She grinned happily.

"I'm sleepy…" She muttered, and she blacked out again, but not before cuddling up against the Kazekage's chest. He shook his head.

"You continue to surprise me, Mitsuki." Gaara said to her, and continued his trek to the hospital, ignoring the glances of passing bystanders.

* * *

There you go! Please review! Nicely!


	11. Chapter 11

Hope you enjoy!

Disclaim: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

When Shino entered the training grounds to meet his fellow teammates he first noticed that Magen was no where in sight. And he wasn't that surprised really. She was probably at home fostering a hang over. The second thing he noticed was the strange look Hinata was giving him. When he looked her way to see if she had something to say, Hinata just blushed and looked away.

Kiba yawned and stretched his hands to the sky. "Hey Shino. Aren't you glad that Tsunade took us off all of those mission assignments?" Kiba frowned. "But I thought we would be able to have a break, but then Sensei Kurenai has to go and make us train all day. Don't get me wrong, I love training and all, but I would like to have at least ONE day of just relaxing!"

"You did." Shino said. "Yesterday."

"That doesn't count. It was my birthday, of course I would relax on that day!" Kiba scratched his head. "It was fun and all until that one point… Oh yea! You found Magen last night right? Where was she?"

Shino was just about to answer when he heard a small sound like a mouse squeak. He turned his head towards Hinata who covered her mouth and blushed. Shino raised and eyebrow at her but Hinata just shook her head rapidly and turned away. It was very strange behavior, even for the shy Hyuuga.

* * *

Magen's P.O.V.

It was around 5 pm when I finally crawled out of bed, unable to lay there any longer, feeling helpless and weak. I walked into the kitchen to get something to drink when I noticed a piece of paper on the counter. Then I remembered. It was Mitsuki's letter. I put it on the counter before I grabbed the sake and went on a drunken rampage… and did something that I know I would regret.

I walked over and picked up the letter, I skimmed it over to refresh my memory. I wanted to write back to her, but I knew that I could not. The only way for me to contact her was if I sent Kira to the sand village. But that would be extremely risky and not to mention that Kira would hate traveling for three days across a desert to a sand village which they would probably not let her in anyways. I couldn't send air mail like Mitsuki could as well… or could I?

How can villages send messages to other villages? They could use a messenger… but I doubt that, they would want the message to be delivered as fast as possible. They could send a ninja… but the ninja would need to stop and rest, he's only human. I remember how my village used to send messages, they used tiny birds. Tiny but strong and fast. They were hard to spot in the air, and could maneuver away from any predators. I bet Konoha had something like that.

But I frowned. But that would mean I would have to ask the Hokage if I could use it. I very much doubt they would, just to send a letter to a friend. That and the Hokage was Tsunade, and I wouldn't want to ask her for any favors.

* * *

When I heard a knock at the door I waited for Shizune to go and answer it. Yet she never did. "I guess she isn't home…" I said to myself while I walked towards the door. When I opened it, I was surprised to find Hinata on the other side of it.

"H-hi Magen…" She said quietly, pressing her fingers together.

An awkward atmosphere fell between us. I guess she wanted an explanation for my behavior from the night before. Of course I was going to lie.

"Oh hi Hinata." I smiled kindly. "What can I do for you?"

"Oh well um…" She searched her brain for the right words, hating herself for not coming up with something to say while she walked up here. "I well…"

"Want to come in?" I asked, saving her the trouble of thinking on the spot. Hinata nodded gratefully and stepped inside. I closed the door behind me and led her to the kitchen where I motioned her to take a seat at the table. Hinata did, and I joined her, sitting opposite from her.

Hinata stared down at the wooden table for a moment. I watched her patiently, wondering what she would say.

"Magen…"

"Yes?"

Hinata looked up at me then back down. "The other day… when you disappeared…"

I gulped. Here is comes.

"We went searching for you. Kiba, Shino and I split up in different directions. Later on into the night I was in the forest when I hear someone in the distance. I hid and activated my Byakugan… you know my eyes?"

I nodded. I knew quite a lot about the Hyuuga clan. Sensei Ozu made me study for hours about each of the important clans of the fire country.

"Anyways…" Hinata continued. "I then saw you. Were you…" Hinata moved her hand up to her face and made a drinking motion as if she was drinking from an invisible cup. I exhaled deeply.

"Yes…" I breathed.

"Oh." Hinata nodded and continued. "That makes sense. I was wondering why you were acting so strangely towards… Shino."

My eyes widened. What did I do that night?

"You too… the way you were acting and talking…" Hinata trailed off and blushed.

I swallowed a lump that formed in my throat, starting to get impatient.

Hinata inhaled and finally said it, "You too were like a scene in a romance novel!" a little louder that she would liked to.

I practically fell off my chair. "You came all the way here just to tell me that! Well that was anticlimactic.

Hinata shook her head rapidly. "No I'm serious! Sakura gave me this book to read… she said it might help me with my self confidence… It was called 'A forbidden rose' it was really good. And you two together like that, reminded me of a scene where Yumi chased after Takahashi when he said that he could never see her again, and Yumi wanted to talk to him but he kept turning away, so she drew her sword, like you did, and put it up to his throat and told him all of her feelings towards him." Hinata sighed, her eyes glazed over. "It was sooooo romantic! Then he took her in his arms, like Shino did, and carried her away."

I blinked at Hinata. Totally speechless. I wouldn't believe that Hinata would be into such things. "Wait… I drew my sword at him?"

Hinata nodded. "Yes. Both of them."

"Both?" I slammed my hands on the table and stood right up. "Did I hurt him? Did I cut him?"

Hinata cowered into her chair. "N-no! You just talked. T-that's all."

"Oh…" I sighed in relief and fell back into my chair. "So… that's all you came to tell me?"

Hinata shook her head. "Not really…"

"Oh? What else then?"

Hinata held up her open hand, showing a small white patch where the cut from before used to be. I flinched at the sight of it. "How is it?"

Hinata shrugged. "It doesn't hurt. It's just a scratch. I just wanted… I just wanted to tell you that, so you wouldn't get worried or anything. Or run away again…" Hinata looked at me with her huge pale eyes. "Please don't run away again! It makes us worry about you! You are our friend, so please, don't feel bad or anything, stay with us."

I blinked at her. "I'm your friend?" So many times I heard someone call me their friend. Yet so many times, it would end up a lie or I would ruin it somehow. The only time I was called a friend and felt it was real, was when I first met Mitsuki.

* * *

_It has been a week since I have been on my own. Traveling to random small towns, blending in with the crowd. Stealing what I can to survive. Frankly I wasn't proud of myself, but I had to get used to it, I will be living this way for the rest of my life._

_"That would look pretty on you."_

_I looked up from the grey dress I held in my hands to see girl, no older than myself, with bright purple eyes staring at me. I blinked at her in confusion. "Oh the dress?"_

_She nodded. "Of course. You should buy it!" _

_I held the dress in front of me. It would fit me, and I can afford it. But do I really need new clothes? I studied the grey Chinese style dress, unaware that the girl was still there, staring at me. _

_"Um… can I help you?" I asked lowering the dress. _

_The girl shook her head silently. I rolled my eyes. "Then stop staring at me then." I said bluntly. _

_"Oh sorry!" The girl turned away for a moment then quickly turned back, as if she has forgotten something. She held out her hand. "My name is Mitsuki by the way!" she said cheerfully._

_Her giddy smile annoyed me. I scowled down at her hand. Why would I care what her name is? I dropped the dress back in the pile and turned to walk away leaving a bewildered purple eyed girl behind. _

_

* * *

_

_This little town was starting to bore me, so I headed towards the pathway out. While I was walking down the path in the forest I heard a crack in a branch a few meters away. I pulled my full attention to that sound, opening my ears to catch who was there. I heard a slow breathing and footsteps. _

_"I know someone's there!" I called out to no one in particular. _

_I heard someone gasp then jump out from the tree's behind me. I turned around to see, to my disliking, that same giddy girl from before. I found myself scowling once again. "Why are you following me?"_

_"You are traveling alone right?" She asked me, avoiding my question._

_"It's rude to answer a question with another question. And yes, I am traveling alone. Why do you care?"_

_"I knew it! This is great!" The girl beamed with delight, a huge grin plastered on her face. "I'm traveling alone too, and I was wondering-"_

_"No."_

_"What?"_

_"I said no. I know what you're going to say, and no. I travel alone. So please, go bother someone else." I turned back around and started to walk away from the girl once again._

_I frowned when I heard her footsteps behind me. "I said I travel alone."_

_"I know. It just so happens I'm heading this way too" She said cheerfully. "So it doesn't count."_

_"What doesn't count?" I whipped around, startling the girl. _

_"What's your name?" She asked, avoiding the question once again, which was really getting on my nerves. _

_I clenched my hands into fists. "Listen… Mitaki or whatever your name is…" I growled. "PLEASE go away, or I will have to be forced to knock you out and leave you behind."_

_"Mitsuki."_

_"What?"_

_"That's my name Mitsuki. And your name is?" She smiled, unfazed by my threat. "It's rude to not introduce yourself after someone gave you their name."_

_My shoulders tensed and my blood boiled. This girl was getting on my last nerve. Maybe if I answered her silly questions, she would go away. "Magen." I breathed, trying to calm down._

_"Magen?" She chuckled. "That's a funny name."_

_"Great thanks. Now leave me alone." I was about to turn away again but Mitsuki spoke again. _

_"Where are you from?"_

_"No where's land. Goodbye."_

_"That's not a real place."_

_"Sure it is. See ya."_

_"Well why are you traveling alone?"_

_"Because I feel like it okay? Go away."_

_"That's not a good answer."_

_I shouted in anger and stomped towards Mitsuki, she stood her ground, a smile still on her lips. "I am traveling alone because one time I killed this girl for being really REALLY annoying so they kicked me out okay?"_

_"Wow that's really mean to kill someone for that."_

_My fist itched to make contact with her cheery face, but thought better of it and turned away. "I guess I'm never going to get rid of you am I?"_

_"Nope!"_

_I sighed. "Fine, you can walk behind me will we get to the next town okay? Not WITH me but BEHIND me. Understand?"_

_Mitsuki nodded. "Okay!"_

_

* * *

_

_Why did I say such a stupid thing without knowing how far away the next town was! It has already been two days of trying to ignore Mitsuki's constant chatting and questions, begging and hoping for the next town to appear so I can lose this girl. And the worst of it all is that I'm starting to get used to her!_

_"Magen, I'm hungry. Do you have any food?" Mitsuki asked, walking behind me._

_"No. And if I did I wouldn't be giving it to you. Remember we aren't traveling together. It's your own fault for eating all of your food so fast." I closed my eyes and sighed. _

_"Look out!" _

_I felt Mitsuki grab my arm and jerk me to the left. I opened my eyes and looked around. "What?"_

_"You almost ran into that tree…" She pointed to the tree to my right._

_"Oh…" _

_Mitsuki nodded in silence. I shook my head and continued walking. Mitsuki blinked in confusion. "Your welcome!" She called after me. _

_Three hours has past and it has been anything but quiet. All I could hear was Mitsuki's stomach growling. She walked with a sway and her eyelids drooped. "So hungry…" _

_I sighed and turned around. Mitsuki stopped and watched with confusion as I searched through my backpack and pulled out a loaf of bread, stuffed with tuna. "This is the last of my food okay? So make it last."_

_Mitsuki stared at the bread as if it was gold. She looked up at me still confused. "For me?" She pointed to herself. I nodded silently. Mitsuki's eyes widened and she snatched the bread from my hand, chewing on it contently. "Thank you! I knew you were a good person." _

_I held back a laugh at her comment and turned back around, heading towards any town that would pop up sooner or later. Hopefully._

_

* * *

_

Mitsuki P.O.V.

I rolled over and stood up. I didn't know where I was, all I knew was it was like a black hole. I looked around and noticed that my body seemed to be illuminated in the endless darkness.

_Witch!_

"What? Who's there?"

_Monster!_

"Whoever's there, come out!"

_You let them die! YOU KILLED THEM!_

"I mean it! COME OUT!"

_MONSTER!_

"STOP!" I screamed out, covering my ears. I closed my eyes as tight as I could, and started to cry.

"Mitsuki."

"Please stop!"

"Mitsuki."

I continued to cry, and I felt myself start to tremble and shake.

"Mitsuki!"

My eyes shot open and I looked up into the face of the Kazekage. I sat up and saw that I was in a hospital bed.

"It was just a dream…nightmare." I whispered. I looked over at the Kazekage, who had sat down on the side of the hospital bed.

"I'm sorry." I muttered, before burying my head in his chest and breaking out into choked sobs. I felt him tense up, but I was too upset to move from my position.

"I'm not a monster…I'm not…" I said over and over, in between my sobs. I heard thunder outside, and realized how badly I had been crying. At this rate I would cause a typhoon, so I blinked away my tears. I also noticed that my head was still buried in the Kazekage's chest.

"EEP!" I shouted, and moved away, blushing madly. He stared at me, as I stared back, still blushing.

"Uh…uh…uh…hi?"

"Hn."

I grinned. "So, what am I doing here?" I asked.

"You fainted." He replied. "After…you beat Itsuma. With his own kekkai genkai." My hand flew up and touched my face near my eye, fear brewing, my grin gone. He nodded.

"Will you tell me how you did it?" He asked. My mind flashed back to the fight, and I shuddered slightly, remembering the intense pain.

"I'm not sure. I just stared at his eyes, wanting to be able to have them, and know how they worked. Then searing pain in my eyes, and then everything was clear again and I kicked his ass!" I said, smiling at the last part. Gaara nodded.

"Do you have a kekkai genkai?" I shook my head, but stopped and shrugged.

"I'm not sure. When I was little, I think I remember my…mom…telling me something about my eyes was special. I'm not sure. But I'm pretty sure I'm remembering right, because it was the day she told me that our…family…of three was the last of our clan."

"Hn. I see. Go back to sleep. You'll be staying here tonight."

I looked out the window, confused. "Uh…Gaa-Kazekage-sama…it's only three o'clock."

"Hai. I know."

"Why am I staying? I feel fine!" I said, praying he would find a way to let me go.

"You're staying for tests. Just incase something happened we cannot see on the outside. The doctors did not wish to perform these tests while you were asleep. You will also have to fill out some forms. I filled out the basic information as best as I could." Gaara said, handing me a clipboard. He walked out the door, leaving me to fill out my forms.

First Name. "Mitsuki." I read. Gaara had already filled that in. I looked at the next question and skipped it. Last Name. The next one was hair color; Gaara had filled that in too, along with the next few questions, eye color, age, and some emergency contacts. I read the emergency contacts; they were for Gaara himself, Temari, Kankarou, and the hokage. I wrote down on an extra line, a number one, circled it, and wrote Magen's name.

"Magen…what are you doing I wonder?" I asked the wind. It only whistled around me in reply. I sat up straighter in the bed and filled in the next few questions.

Original village.

"None." I sighed; nobody can know where I come from. Nobody except Magen.

Siblings.

"None." I felt a pang in my heart as I wrote that, but it was true, they were gone.

Next one.

Parents.

"…"

I felt a tear slide down my cheek, and I stared at the paper, before throwing it across the room. I pulled the wires and things monitoring my breathing off and pulled out my IV. I stood up and grabbed my clothes, putting them on and putting on my kunai holsters as well, and walked over to the window.

I looked back towards the door, half expecting the Kazekage or some ANBU, or even a nurse, to come and stop me, but none did. I threw open the window, and jumped out the window, running somewhere, anywhere, but that hospital room near those words that hurt my heart so much.

* * *

I had been running for almost an hour, and had just noticed that I wasn't surrounded by sand anymore, but by trees. I turned around in circles, trying to figure out where I was.

"Shit." I said, jumping up onto a higher tree branch. I looked around again and my head drooped in annoyance. "Well, I'm lost!"

I sat down on the tree branch and muttered angry words as I pulled out a kunai from my pouch. I cut off a piece of a nearby smaller tree branch, and started whittling, singing a song. Hey, maybe someone would hear me!

"Mitsuki?"

I looked down into the bright eyes of the large white tiger I knew and loved. Hey, I was right, someone heard me, just not the someone I expected.

"Kira? What are you doing here?" I asked, scratching the large cat behind her ears.

"I've been trying to keep a close eye on you and Magen, but you are always stuck in the sand village and Magen's always with that stupid bug boy. So I decided to go find myself some lunch since I can't watch either of you two at the moment, and what do you know, instead I found you." She muttered, sounding slightly annoyed. I grinned and hugged her, knowing it would bug her, but not really caring.

"Hey Kira, you know how me and Magen are ninja's with suckish senses of direction?"

Kira nodded, staring at me as if she just wanted to shout out, "Duh!" Which she did. I giggled.

"Well, I'm kinda lost!"

Kira stared at me still, not even flinching. "I'm not surprised. You're almost half-way to the leaf village. You must have been running like crazy. What upset you?"

Now it was my turn to stare. But not at Kira. Towards the place I had been unconsciously running to. I sighed and plopped down on the ground.

"Well, I guess no matter what I do, I'll always be running back to there. Back to all the pain. Back to…well them." I sighed and looked back towards Konoha, and Magen. "I guess I should get over it. That's where my heart is, I can't escape it, no matter what I do."

Kira nodded. "You always were attached to that place. I told you to cut the bonds that tie. But you wouldn't. Now tell me. What has made you run back towards your source of pain?" She asked. I touched the key hanging round my neck.

"Kira, my parents, my family, I miss them! That's what upset me. Everyday anymore it seems I'm reminded of them! Everyday I see little girls with their moms and dads, all through Suna! I see kids arguing with their siblings all the time! I can't take it! I see little children have tantrums and tell their families they hate them, and I just want to go and choke them until they understand!" I started bawling, I had been doing this a lot lately.

I heard thunder overhead, and I saw lightning strike, but I didn't care. I just kept crying, until like my tears, the rain started to pour. Kira moved under a tree, as I sat out in the open, letting the rain drench me.

"Just let it wash away my pain…just this once…may I show true emotion…"

* * *

Normal P.O.V.

Gaara ran through the woods, searching for the black haired purple-eyed girl who was supposed to be in the hospital.

Gaara had been in the waiting room, waiting for Temari and Kankarou to come for their visit, when he saw nurses running frantically around the hospital. He stopped one to ask what was going on, and nearly killed the wall with his glare at her answer.

_"The girl you brought in, Mitsuki, she's gone. Disappeared. All her things are gone with her." _

Gaara growled at this memory. 'Damn it. Where'd she go?' He screamed in his mind. He had been feeling a strange feeling ever since she had started crying on him. He couldn't put his finger on it, so he had asked Temari before she had left to search. What had she called it?

"Worry." Gaara recalled. His speed grew as he heard the first clap of thunder. He thought he had heard someone singing in the direction he was going, but now he wasn't so sure. The rain started coming down, pouring. Now as he approached a small opening in the canopy of trees he was sure he had went the right direction.

"Hn." He muttered, as soon as he had spotted her, sitting down on her knees, her face towards the sky.

"Just let it wash away my pain…just this once…may I show true emotion…" He heard her say. He moved forward slowly, watching her while she put her head in her hands, and continued to sob. Somewhere in the back of his mind it registered that the rain seemed to pour harder as Mitsuki's sobs grew louder, but right at that moment he just wanted to get her back home.

"Mitsuki." He said. She looked up when he put his hand on her shoulder, and he stared into her tear filled eyes. She stood up and threw herself at him, and continued to sob, though her sobs got quieter and quieter, as she calmed herself down. She looked up at him, her tears falling down her face in five second intervals, as the rain slowed. And at the same time her tears dried completely, the rain stopped.

"I-I'm s-sorry…ag-again." She whispered. Gaara nodded. "Hn. I'm taking you back to the hospital. Let's go." He said, and took her hand, dragging her soaking wet form back to Suna. He'd never know that she felt like half her soul was still back in Konoha, and that the half that she still had with her, was dying.

* * *

There you go! Please review! Nicely!


	12. Chapter 12

Hope you enjoy!

Disclaim: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

_I twirled my locket in between my fingers. Mitsuki now walking by my side, watching me with curiosity. I glanced over to her, she stared at the necklace. "That's pretty." She said._

"_Thanks…" I dropped the necklace back on my neck and looked straight ahead._

"_Where did you get it?" She asked._

"_My parents gave it to me…"_

"_Oh I see." She went silent. _

_I treasured the silence for a moment until I felt a sense of worry. Mitsuki was never quiet, what made her silent now? And why did I care? I looked over to her and opened my mouth to say something when Mitsuki started to speak first. _

"_So… where are your parents now?" She asked quietly, staring at the ground in front of her while she walked._

_I frowned and looked ahead. No sense in lying to her it's not like she will be traveling with me all the time. I sighed and started to twiddle with my locket once more. "They're dead." _

_Mitsuki gasped and quickly looked over to me. I saw her wide eyes out from the corner of my eye, I could have sworn I saw a tear beginning to form in her eye but once I looked fully at her, she dropped her gaze to the ground once more, her long, black hair hiding her face. "I… I'm sorry…" Her voice broke, as if she was fighting the urge to cry._

"_Hey don't worry." I said with a grin, to cheer up the moment. "I can make it on my own. I'm a tough girl."_

_Mitsuki looked up at me with a surprised expression. "But why do you like being alone so much? Traveling by yourself… don't you get… lonely at all?" She frowned. "I always feel lonely. I hate traveling alone… I don't know how you do it…"_

_I frowned and looked away. "Truth is… I have no clue how I do it." I chuckled at Mitsuki's confused expression. "Everyday I wake up with no idea to what I will do next. I have no idea where I am going but I walk anyways, I walk anywhere my feet can take me."_

"_Are you looking for something?" Mitsuki asked._

_I hesitated before speaking. "Yea I guess you can say that…"_

"_What are you searching for?"_

_Bu before I could answer it Mitsuki poked me in the shoulder. I stared at her in confusion. "What?"_

"_There is no more road left." She said pointing ahead. _

"_What do you mean?" I followed her pointing and stared with amazement at the giant canyon in front of us. I gasped and walked towards the ledge. I looked over to the very large drop below us, a small line of water that seemed to be a river way below._

_Just then my head perked, I heard a body in the distance. I looked over to Mitsuki to tell her and noticed she was looking over towards the trees beside us. "Someone's coming…" She said._

_I walked towards her. "How did you know?" _

"_You knew too?"_

_We looked at each other in confusion but before anyone could say anything, a kunai shot out from a tree and came down towards us. _

_I caught it in mid air and studied the knife in my hands. Mitsuki's eye's widened. "Wow nice catch there. Are you a ninja?"_

_I shrugged. "I don't know… why? Do the swords give it away?" I asked gesturing towards the two swords that hung off my waist. _

_Mitsuki looked down at the swords then laughed. "To tell you the truth… I never noticed those before."_

_I rolled my eyes. "You are strange."_

"_You both are strange."_

_Mitsuki and I looked over towards the direction the Kunai came from to see three men standing a few feet away from us. They all wore dark clothing and wore headbands that bore the hidden village of the mist symbol. The taller man in the middle looked to be the leader and was the one who spoke before. A smug grin spread across his rugged features. "You were just attacked and you start to have a chat?" He shrugged. "I suggest you quit your little conversation there and give us all your money and belongings and you won't get hurt."_

_I raised an eyebrow at him, holding back a laugh. "And I suggest you guys turn around and go back where you came from and you won't get hurt. I don't want to fight anyone."_

_The group laughed. "How can YOU possibly hurt US?" The leader pulled out two long daggers and twirled them in his hands. "Now I'll say it again, give us all your crap."_

_I pretend to think for a moment, stroking my chin. "Ummm, how 'bout no."_

_Mitsuki giggled._

_This seemed to piss off the men, they glared at us, clenching their fists. If looks could kill, Mitsuki's and my head would have exploded right there. _

"_Well then you little bitch…" growled the leader, "We will just have to hurt you then."_

_I frowned. "I don't want to fight anyone. So please, go away."_

_The leader laughed loudly. "You scared? Of course you would be scared! You're just a helpless little girl." The other joined in on their leader's laughter. "Mommy and daddy aren't here so save you."_

_I clenched my hand into a fist. Mitsuki looked over to me then back at the man. "Magen… I can-"_

"_Stay back Mitsuki. This will be over quickly." I was about to reach for my sword but thought better of it. Mitsuki shook her head._

"_I'm going to fight too." She said._

"_I fight alone got it?" I snapped at her, my eyes still on my opponents._

_Mitsuki was about to say something again, but knew there would be no point to it. She frowned and backed away. Waiting to step in at anytime when I would need help. _

"_Oh?" The leader grinned cruelly. "Did I make the little chicky mad?" He chuckled. _

_One of the other ninja's tapped the leader on the shoulder. "Umm boss?"_

"_What?" Snapped the leader._

_The small man quivered slightly. "W-well… did you see the way she caught the kunai? She might be a ninja… we should be a little careful."_

"_A ninja?" The leader laughed. "That catch was nothing but luck. And besides if she was a ninja, she would have thrown it back, or attacked us by now." He shook his head in disbelief. "And she isn't wearing a headband. Neither of them are! So who are you telling to be careful?" He snarled at his teammate._

"_Uh… never mind boss…" The smaller man whimpered and walked back to his place._

'_Boss' rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to us. He smiled maniacally. "Now I promise I won't hurt you too much." He teased, running his finger across the blade of his dagger. _

_I scowled. "Let's just get this over with…"_

_The leader pointed towards Mitsuki. "You guys get her! I will take care of this little bitch here by myself." He said, smiling at me._

_The two henchmen, as I would call them, nodded and ran towards Mitsuki. Mitsuki stood her ground, watching the men carefully. _

_But just as quickly as they took off, I quickly threw the kunai knife that I still held across them, stopping them in their paths, dodging the knife. They looked over to me then back at their boss for support or an order. _

_The leader just rolled his eyes and turned back to me. "You are pretty skilled there… maybe I should end this quickly just in case."_

"_Same here." I said._

_But before the leader could go on with some verbal abuse, I disappeared and re-appeared under him. He looked down just in time as I punched upwards, just missing his jaw. The man stumbled backwards, a little stunned by my speed. He shook his head and lunged at me with his daggers. _

_Just as he swung the blades at me, I would simply step aside or maneuver my body away from his attack. This went on for a while, while his henchmen watched in amusement instead of attacking Mitsuki like they were told to. Mitsuki used this chance to sneak up behind the men and smacked them both in the back of the neck, which caused them to topple forward, unconscious. _

_I was getting tired of simply dodging the mans weak attempts to hurt me, so to end it I went to kick him in the gut but instead the man grabbed my foot and whirled me around, sending me towards a tree. _

_I twisted my body around and landed on the tree on all fours for a split second before kicking off and flipping over the leader then jabbing him in the back with my elbow. He growled and turned to slice my neck, but I ducked and swept my foot from under his legs. _

_He fell back onto his butt and glared up at me. "What the hell!"_

"_Give up?" I asked._

_He swore under his breath before lifting himself up again. His eyes traveled down at my swords. "Why don't you just use those and kill me already? Since you're so good." He said sarcastically. _

_I twitched slightly, my hand hovering over the handles to my swords. "That is none of your business." I said through clenched teeth._

_The leader gave a questioning look. "Oh? It seems I struck a cord here." He smiled. "Are you sensitive about your little weapons here?" He spoke to me as if I was a baby, pointing at the sheathed swords._

_I tried to ignore him and went at him once more. I swung a fist near his face, he leaned to the side and dodged the punch. Chuckling he kneed me in the stomach. I coughed, trying to regain my breath. I cursed at myself for losing concentration and quickly jumped away to avoid his dagger threatening to impale in the back. _

"_Common girly…" Laughed my opponent. "Use your little sword there, make this interesting." _

_My hand was itching to grab the white handle, but I fought it back. I learned my lesson before, but I couldn't keep fighting the urge to fight with the very weapon I was destined to use. The weapon that I was taught to use perfectly and swiftly. _

_Unfortunately, I lost to the urge and gripped the handle tightly. Slowly and gracefully I slid the blade out from its protective sheath and held it in front of me horizontally, so I could get a good look of my weapon which I haven't used in weeks. _

_It wasn't a heavy sword, it felt light in my hand, the hilt weighing the same as the blade, perfectly balanced and great for quick kills. _

"_Oh? SO you will be using that sword of yours… It looks like it could snap in half like a twig!" The leader laughed. "Right men?" He stood there in silence, waiting for the agreements from his minions, yet nothing came. He blinked in confusion and looked over his shoulder to see what his lazy men were doing; hopefully killing the little girl that he ordered them too. But what he saw was nothing like he imagined. _

_There on the ground were his two men and sitting on top of them with a huge grin on her face was Mitsuki. She waved innocently at the leader._

"_What the hell happened!" He shouted with anger. His face turned a dark red as fury built up inside him, cursing under his breath of what useless and weak men he had. He went to turn back to his fight but then found he could not. He cursed under his breath again at what an idiot he had been for turning away from his opponent as the touch of a cold blade on his neck sent shivers down his spine._

"_Never turn your back on your opponent." I lectured with a smile. "Now I suggest you give up and go home or I will have to be forced to-" My eyes widened with shock as the man I had cornered grabbed onto the blade with his bare hand, blood trickling down the sword and onto the handle. He slowly pushed the sword away from his neck, satisfied his little stunt had petrified his opponent so much. _

_Mitsuki gasped, watching her friend tremble at the sight of the hot liquid dripping onto the ground. _

_I stared in horror, trying to push images from my past away and back into the back of my mind, trying to move my body, but it was impossible. Staring down at my hand, which was now covered in the man's blood, I didn't notice my opponent grab onto my arm and throw me off the edge of the cliff. _

* * *

I walked past the kitchen and towards the kazekage's office. I approached cautiously and knocked on the door. The door opened and I watched as Gaara's sand from his gourd, well went back into his gourd. I sat down in what I now call my chair, since it's where I sit every time I'm in here.

"So whatcha need to know this time Kazekage-san?" I asked, my usual smile gone. He looked up from his paperwork and stared at me.

"Why did you run?"

My eyes flashed in remembrance and I felt like crying again. "I had a random crazy moment. And I missed Magen!" I said putting on a fake grin. He looked me straight in the eyes, and remained quiet. It stayed quiet for about a minute before he spoke.

"You are lying."

"Huh uh! I do too miss Magen!"

"But you did not have a, as you put it, 'random crazy moment'." He said, smirking. I blushed for some reason, and shook my head.

"Yeah I did!"

"Hn."

"Hey Kazekage-sama, is there a library around here?" I asked, trying to change the subject.

Gaara glared at me. "Hn. Do not change the subject. Why did you run?"

"Because I did?"

"Hn."

"Because I hate hospitals?"

"Hn."

"WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?"

"Hn. I would like the truth, Mitsuki." He said, smirking again. I stared at him, blushing slightly again. WHAT THE CRAP IS WRONG WITH ME?

"LOOK JUST CAUSE YOU'RE KAZEKAGE DOESN'T MEAN I'M GONNA TELL YOU WHY I RAN! I JUST DID!" I shouted. Gaara's smirk widened and he looked amused. My eyes widened and I clamped my hands over my mouth, and turned and ran out of the room.

* * *

'I can't believe I just did that! I can't believe I said that!' I screamed in my head. I jumped across rooftops, running away from that room. 'I'm so gonna get kicked out of that house now! I'm gonna go to jail! Oh wait…I'm too young for jail I think yet…oh crud I'm gonna go to juuvie! I don't wanna go to juuvie!'

I stopped running so I wouldn't run into the silhouette in front of me. It was Tenten.

"Whoa!" She shouted as I stopped directly in front of her. "Hey, I was just coming to say goodbye to you!"

"Huh?" I mumbled. I was confused again. I looked at her and realized what she meant. She was going back home, back to Konoha.

"I'm going back to Konoha, my missions been completed, and Neji and I have to go home."

"Oh." I said, and put on a smile. "So you'll come visit, right?" I had just made another friend; I didn't want to lose her too.

"Well duh! I'll come visit you and Temari!" She said, and then pulled me into a hug. She released me and started to walk away, but turned back. "Hey Mitsuki, um, before I go, I was just wondering, where was your home? You never told me."

My smile disappeared, and I shrugged. "I don't remember."

_LIAR!_

"I haven't had a real home in a long time."

_YOU DON'T BELONG HERE!_

"All I know is that I wasn't wanted. Not then and not now."

_LEAVE!_

"Goodbye, Tenten." I mumbled, and walked back towards the Kazekage's home. Tenten waved, and turned to go the other way.

"Good luck Mitsuki. Hope you find your home…"

* * *

I left the Kazekage's office and went back to the room I was staying in. He had asked me the same questions as he usually did, why did you run, why were you blushing stupidly, what's going on, if you need help tell my sister. Okay, so the last one isn't a question and the second one was what I expected him to ask but he didn't, but whatever.

I sat on the bed and grabbed the kunai holster I used to hold the few possessions I had. I opened it and pulled out one of the only three things I had that had incriminating evidence of where I was from. I ran my hand over the insignia of my village and fell back on the bed.

* * *

"_Mitsuki come on!" _

_I looked up to see one of my best friends running towards me. He grabbed my arm and dragged me towards the academy preschool. I laughed._

"_Where are we going?" I asked as we ran. He smiled at me._

"_To the graduation ceremony remember? But we have to stop at the school first and get our outfits! Our parents are all waiting! Come on!" He replied, and we kept running, eventually getting to the school. We ran to our separate parents after promising to meet back up after we got dressed, and to go find our other friend. But she'd be there anyway, so we knew we'd find her._

_I ran to my mother at the time and she pulled me into the bathroom to change. _

"_Mitsuki. You're late. Where have you been?" She asked angrily._

"_I'm sorry momma. I forgot." I replied quietly as she pulled out some brushes and fixed my clothes._

_I walked out five minutes later, my hair up in a single bun secured with chopsticks, with the rest of my long hair falling down my back. My kimono was a dark purple, with pink and white square patterns on it. My slippers were the same dark purple, and I rushed up to stand beside my best friend in the crowd. We clapped and cheered as the newly appointed chuunin walked across the stage. _

"_YAY! WOO!" I cheered. My friend and I clapped extra loud as the kage of our village stepped forward to give his speech. I noticed a blonde haired boy sitting on a swing, and motioned for my friend to come with me as I walked towards him, but adults noticed where we were going and told us gently and sternly to stay for the Kage's speech. _

"_Mitsuki!" _

_My friend and I turned to our other best friend, as she rushed forward. We all hugged, and snuck off to go hang out together. We were all four, but we knew where we were going by heart, so we knew we wouldn't get lost. Even if my sense of direction wasn't that great, both of my friends were good with that kind of stuff. _

"_Hey guys…my…my father says we can't hang out anymore." My second friend said, tears filling her pale eyes. _

"_What? Why?" My other friend and I asked together. She shrugged as tears started to fall down her face. _

"_H-he says that y-you d-distract m-me. A-and t-that I-I'll n-never b-become a g-good c-clan le-leader!"_

_She wiped her eyes as she was pulled into a group hug. She sniffled. "B-but I'll t-train hard! T-that way w-we can be t-together! I-I'll prove myself! T-to my dad and everyone else!" She stated triumphantly. We all held out our hands, and pinky promised._

"_No matter what!" I started. "No matter what we'll always be friends!" We shook pinkies, and then my friend ran off before her father saw us, but not before putting something in my hand._

_I rolled it around in my hand and smiled sadly. I put the ring on my pinky, so I would never forget my promise. _

"_You two! The parade is about to start, come on!" We looked over to my friends brother and ran to him. The parade started and our four-year-old minds tried to forgot about our troubles for the time being. But I started to cry as the parade started. My friend took my hand, and twisted the ring on my finger gently, and then held my hand. _

"_No matter what, remember?" _

_I nodded, and we watched the parade, my tears drying. I smiled again at my best friend, and he gripped my hand in reassurance. _

* * *

The next week my parents were murdered in front of me and then another week later I was adopted.

I never spoke to Hyuuga Hinata again.

I thought back to the Hinata that had Magen and I to Konoha, and shook my head. "No way. If it had been Hina-chan she would've recognized me. Though she did ask if she knew me…neh…no way." I thought aloud.

I rolled to my side to look at the object in my hand, and moved my hand over the insignia of my headband. The insignia of my village. The insignia of my home.

"Ah Konoha…" I mumbled. "So many memories…"

* * *

There you go! Please review! Nicely!


	13. Chapter 13

Hope you enjoy!

Disclaim: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

_Have you ever had the awful sensation of falling? It is a terrible thing to feel. I have once felt like I was falling, falling into darkness, all alone, but now I was feeling the real thing. I was falling to my death._

_A lot of things can go through your mind while you're falling. But for me, my mind was blank. Feeling the fast passed air press against my back, my heart in my throat, I couldn't bare to think of anything. _

"_Magen!"_

_I heard the shout of a voice familiar to me. I snapped out of my state and as quickly as I could I formed as much chakra into my free hand and reached for the wall of the canyon. My hand scrapped against the rock wall, cutting and scrapping my skin. Finally I was able to grab hold of a small ridge in the wall. _

_The jerk from my body instantly stopping made me lose my grip on my sword. Panicking I grabbed onto the red ribbon and watched as my sword dangled below me. _

_I looked up to see how far I have fallen. To my surprise I didn't fall as far as I thought. It was about 6 meters up to the ledge of where I saw Mitsuki peak her head over. "Magen are you okay!"_

_I tried to call back up but was unable to catch my breath; instead a small squeak came out. I noticed the terror in Mitsuki's eyes. And then her head disappeared. _

_I tried to think of a plan quickly but the fear of falling clouded my mind. The fear doubled when I felt the small ridge slowly give away from my weight. Soon it will crumble and I will fall. I tried to scream out but my throat felt hoarse and dry. Instead I heard a scream from up above, it sounded like Mitsuki was screaming. My heart skipped a beat._

_The next thing that happened was the only clear thing I remember. A small drop of blood fell from the ledge from above and fell onto my hand that held tightly onto my only support. My eyes widened and my grip loosened. Everything else seems like a blur. _

_My hand releasing the ridge, falling once more, then feathers. I remember someone grapping my hand and pulling me back up I looked up but the sun got in my eyes, so I was unable to get a good view of who was saving me. But I remember seeing wings, and then I passed out. The next thing I remember when I woke back up was I was sitting back at the top of the canyon again, my sword at my side, no sign of the other ninjas and Mitsuki collapsing on the ground face first and then passing out. _

_I slowly got up from where I sat, brushing myself off and sheathing my sword, and walked over to Mitsuki. I bent down and placed my finger on her neck, there was a pulse, she was alive. My eyes traveled down to her back. My eyes widened when I noticed drops of blood all over her shirt. I quivered and fell back onto my butt. _

_Gulping down a large lump in my throat, I pulled myself together and leaned forward to brush Mitsuki's hair off her back to notice two large rips down the back of her shirt._

"_What the?" I looked over to see her backpack near by. This was all too strange. I took off my own backpack and grabbed Mitsuki's shoulders. Careful not to look down at the blood again, I dragged Mitsuki over to her backpack and laid her down, propping her head on the backpack so it could serve as a pillow. _

* * *

_I sighed and looked up at the clear blue sky. I had no clue what I was doing this, I should have just left, then I wouldn't have to deal with Mitsuki's constant questions anymore. What did I care of what happens to her? But I knew I couldn't leave. "UGH!" I threw my hands up in the air. This was all so stupid. Not only was I babysitting an unconscious girl, but the stupid ninja guy got away! And I really wanted to kick his ass after what he did to me. _

"_Wha…what?" _

_I looked over my shoulder to see Mitsuki's eyes flutter open. "W-where am I…?" She said quietly. Her hand traveled up to her forehead where she found a wet, folded cloth. She then looked over to me. _

"_So you're finally up." I crossed my arms as I sat down beside her. _

_Mitsuki tried to sit up but failed as she hissed in pain and fell back onto her backpack. I shook my head. "Stay still jeez." I shook my head. "You're still recovering from a fever."_

"_F-fever?" Mitsuki blinked in confusion. _

_I nodded. "Yup. Oh!" I reached into my pocket. "You dropped something." I said as I pulled out a long, white feather. _

_Mitsuki gasped. Her eyes widened as she looked from the feather to me to the feather and back to me again. "T-that's not mine. What are you talking about?" _

_I laughed. "Oh don't try to pull that innocent thing on me. Do I really look that dumb?" I dropped the feather on her stomach and got up from where I sat. "Believe it or not, I'm actually smart." I turned away and stretched my arms to the sky; my joints were still a little sore from holding on for dear life before._

_Mitsuki slowly reached for the feather and held it in front of her gingerly. She twirled it in her fingers. "Why…?" She whispered. _

"_Hm?" I looked down at Mitsuki's shadowed face. _

"_Why did you stay…?" She asked, still staring at the feather. _

_I shrugged. "Why wouldn't I?"_

_Mitsuki finally looked up at me. "No I mean-"_

"_Hey, I know what I mean." I said as I took a few steps away and looked down the path from where we came from. "What happened to those doofuses anyways?"_

_Mitsuki slowly pushed herself up in a sitting position, the cloth falling into her lap. "Oh the guy ran away taking his buddies with him." She said with a small smile. _

_I laughed. "You probably scared them away!"_

_Mitsuki frowned and looked to the ground. I sighed and shook my head. "Common, hurry up and get better. I think there's a town nearby. Those ninjas must have come from somewhere. We should be able to reach it in a few days hopefully. Then we can gather some supplies from there and continue on our way."_

_Mitsuki gasped and looked up at me with a beaming smile. "We? You mean I'm coming with you?" _

_I rolled my eyes. "Now don't get too excited! You are only traveling with me because you saved me, and I owe you my life. But once I save your butt, your gone got it?"_

_Mitsuki tried to hold back her smile. "Oh, Okay." She said cheerfully. _

_I sighed and flicked her in the forehead. "Ow!" Mitsuki rubbed her forehead as I got up to my feet again, and turned away. Mitsuki smiled warmly. "Thanks Magen…"_

_I twitched. _

_Mitsuki studied my shirt. It had stains and small rips in it from the fall. "Oh that reminds me!" Mitsuki reached into her backpack and pulled out the grey dress I saw before, when I first saw Mitsuki. _

_I stared down at it in confusion. "Why do you have that?"_

_Mitsuki tossed it up at me. "Well I knew you liked it, so I bought it for you!" She smiled._

"_But how did you know you would see me again. And why would you buy a stranger something?" _

_Mitsuki shrugged. "I just had a feeling that I would see you again."_

_I studied the dress in my hands. "Oh…"_

_Mitsuki smiled. "We will be best friends I know it!"_

* * *

I silently walked down the road with Hinata by my side, still a little bewildered about the past conversation. The way Hinata acted and the whole drunk episode figured out.

"_I'm your friend?"_

_Hinata giggled. "Of course you are Magen. You are a part of our team now."_

_I stared at her with bewilderment. Hinata slowly got up from her chair. "Well… that's all I wanted to say… I guess I will be going now." _

_I got up from my chair as well and followed her to the door, still speechless. Before Hinata left, she turned to me once more. "Oh and I almost forgot! Miss Tsunade said that she has another mission for us. She said for me to bring you there in fifteen minutes… and that was fifteen minutes ago!" _

And now I was heading towards Tsunade's office to get ready for another mission. Which I was sort of excited for. Maybe this mission could help clear my head and get all this stuff out of my head.

After a few minutes of silence Hinata finally looked over to me and spoke. "Kiba won't be joining us on this mission."

I tried to hold back a smile. "Oh really? Why?" I asked with fake interest.

Hinata narrowed her eyes slightly. She could tell I was happy about this. "Well he is on a mission on his own right now, which is very strange. The mission he was assigned for would easily have been done with a few genin."

"That's not that strange." I said. "Maybe Tsunade just wanted one person for the job and Kiba fit the bill." Which wasn't really what I thought was going on. I knew that old hag, and she was up to something, and I knew it had to do something with this mission.

* * *

As soon as we entered Tsunade's office, Tsunade felt the need to make fun of me. "Well well, looks like the drunk decided to join us." She teased.

"Look whose talking." I snorted.

Tsunade gave me a piercing glare. "Watch who you're walking to. You need to learn how to respect your elders."

I laughed and joined Hinata and Shino in front of Tsunade's desk, avoiding any eye contact with Shino. I was still embarrassed with the whole being drunk thing and I wasn't yet healed.

"Okay, on to business then." Tsunade shuffled through some papers. Shizune by her side, smiling kindly in my direction. I had a pretty good idea she ratted me out to Tsunade. "You will be heading towards a small village near the outskirts of the Hidden Grass village." Tsunade began, reading off a peace of a document she fished out of a pile. I flinched slightly at the mention of my past village. "We have been informed that a mass of random killings have happened in this area."

"Random?" Asked Hinata.

"So the killings have no connection at all." Stated Shino.

"Exactly." Said Tsunade. "You will be investigating these sites where the murders occurred and hopefully catch the criminals."

"Alright sounds simple enough, lets go." I gestured towards the door.

"Wait a minute. I would like another to join you. IN this mission I believe a skilled medical ninja will be needed."

A knock came at the door.

"Come in!" Called Tsunade.

The door slowly opened to reveal a pink haired girl around the same age as I am. She walked up to the desk. "You called Mistress?"

"Yes Sakura. I would like you to accompany this group on a mission." Tsunade gestured toward us. The pinkette turned around, her eyes immediately on me. "You already know of Hinata and Shino. I would like you to meet the new member of their team, Magen."

Sakura held out her hand and smiled. "Nice to meet you Magen, my name is Sakura."

I hesitated before taking her hand. After a slightly awkward shake, Sakura joined me by my side as we waited for further instructions.

* * *

As we exited the village and continued down the road towards our first destination, Sakura saw fit to start to get to know me. "So Magen, where are you from?"

"My home." I yawned.

Sakura didn't find that very funny but continued anyways. "Right… well why did you join this team?"

"I didn't have a choice." I grumbled.

"What do you mean?" Asked Sakura.

I crossed my arms. "Well let's just say I was forced against my will to become a joiner. Either that or jail… sometimes I wish I chose jail." I said under my breath.

Sakura blinked in confusion. "Why jail? What did you do?"

"I stole." I said bluntly.

"Oh." Sakura looked away and tried to change the subject. "So… I see you fight with swords."

"Yup."

"So you're like a samurai then?"

"Nope."

"Oh." Sakura went silent again.

Hinata stepped into the conversation to save Sakura. "Isn't it awful? Killing all those innocent people."

My eyes widened. "W-what?"

"The man we are after. Or men, who knows?" Hinata shrugged.

I exhaled with relief. "Oh… right."

I walked in silence as Hinata and Sakura chatted away, somehow the conversation changed into something about this kid named Naruto, but I didn't pay much attention. Instead I fiddled with my golden locket that my father gave to me many years ago.

"_M-mommy?" A little girl choked through her tears. A young woman peered over her shoulder and looked down at the young child. _

"_What's wrong baby?" Asked the woman. "What happened?" _

_The child sniffled a few times before holding out her hand. In it she held a broken necklace. "Th-The-They…" Tears poured down her face. The woman quickly bent down to the childs height and brushed her daughter's black bangs out of her eyes. _

"_Shhh it's okay…" The woman whispered, comforting the child. "Now tell mommy what happened."_

_The child coughed. "They broke m-my necklace d-daddy gave me." She stammered. _

_The mother took the necklace from the girl's hands. The chain was snapped in two. The heart shaped locket slid from its small chain and onto the ground. "Oh my…" She breathed. _

_The little girl coughed again, the salty taste of tears in her throat. "They threw r-rocks at m-me…" She wiped her face. _

_The mother gasped as she picked up the small locket off the ground. "Those horrible kids." She swore under her breath. _

"_T-then they pushed me and ripped the necklace o-off my neck…" The little girl sobbed. "Th-Then they stomped on it and then pulled off my hat and then called me a monster than ran away!" _

_The worried mother looked up and noticed the dirt stains all over her child's white hat. She also noticed bruises and dirt smudges all over her daughter's body. Feeling a little broken hearted and guilty for her daughter's misfortune, she pulled the young girl into a tight hug. It felt like that was the only thing the mother could do for her child at that moment. _

* * *

"Mitsuki."

"…"

"Mitsuki."

"…"

"Mitsuki."

"Kazekage-san. It is two in the morning. LET ME SLEEP!" I shouted, in my tired rage.

"Hn."

"…"

"Mitsuki. You do realize you are sleeping in my room?"

"…"

"…"

"HUH?" I bolted up, nearly smacking heads with the kazekage, who wisely backed up. I grinned what Magen calls my 'Oh crap I fell asleep when I shouldn't have again' grin.

"Uh…hi?"

"Hn. What are you doing in my room?"

I shrugged and got off of the couch I had been sleeping on. I inched my way towards the door, incoherently mumbling sorry, but was stopped just as I was about to bolt by the door being shut by the kazekage's amazing invincible sand.

"Cheater."

"Hn."

Gaara motioned for me to come sit back down, and I did, praying that I wouldn't fall asleep again.

"Why are you in my room?"

I thought about it for a second before shrugging.

"I got bored, and decided to explore some more, I mean this place is huge, I figured that there were places I hadn't seen yet so…well anyways I came in here and sat down on the couch cause it looked comfy and I guess it was cause I mean, I fell asleep…heh." I rubbed the back of my neck and blushed in embarrassment.

"Hn."

"Heh, yeah, so anyways I'm just gonna head back up to bed! Night!"

I stood up quickly and rushed towards the door. I was almost away from the embarrassing memory, when I managed to trip and fall over my own two feet.

"Itai…"

I felt myself being lifted off the ground and I looked up to see the Kazekage. He had apparently decided I was helpless and couldn't get to my room on my own, and had decided to carry me there. Bridal style, might I add. Talk about embarrassing.

"Ka-Kazekage-san, I'm f-fine!"

I mentally cursed, why am I so embarrassed? And why am I stuttering? I sighed. That was tomorrow's problem. I snuggled up against the Kazekage, and shut my eyes.

"Goodnight…Gaara-kun…"

Gaara's eyes shot down to my face, surprised. An almost invisible smile made its way to his face.

"Goodnight. Mitsuki-chan."

I smiled happily. I may have looked like I was asleep, but hey, I can still hear. I was just _almost_ asleep!

"…Arigatou…" I murmured, and then I fell into one of my 'I don't wanna fall asleep but I can't help it' sleeps. Magen and I named a lot of the things I do one time when we were bored.

* * *

"Mitsuki you look like a fool."

My eyes flew open. I knew that voice.

"You are a fool. How could you ever think that they would accept you?"

I stood up and ran out of my room. I rushed through the halls, trying to find the person the voice had come from.

"You know that we're the only ones who will accept you! Only us and the third! If you tell them what you really are they'll kill you! They'll hate you! And you know it!"

I turned a corner and ran into the firmly built chest of the person the voice had come from. I looked up into the black eyes of my big brother.

"You know that they'll hate you! Just because we accepted you doesn't mean they will! You are a _monster_ Mitsuki-chan! You will never be able to live among people!"

The tears streamed down my face, clouding my vision. I felt my brother grab my arm and transport me to another room in my home. I could feel myself shaking.

"They'll hate you! And then word will get around and they'll come back for you! They killed everyone looking for you! But that man took you so they couldn't find you! And look what they did! Remember this? LOOK WHAT YOU DID!"

I rubbed the tears out of my eyes and was met with the sight of my adoptive parents, my only real parents in my mind, bloody and lying on the ground. Dead. The way I had found them when I had escaped.

"This is what will happen. This is your life story. Trust them and love them only to kill them in the end. Just like you did them. Just like you did us!"

My brother pointed to a corner, to where his body lay with my other brothers' body. My best friend lay dead. I shut my eyes and screamed.

* * *

"Mitsuki!"

My eyes shot open, teary and red. I looked around. I was back in Gaara-kun's house. It was just a dream. No not a dream. A nightmare.

"Kaze-Kazekage-san?"

Gaara looked at me through piercing eyes, and nodded.

"Hn. Gaara is fine."

I nodded in response and blushed, wiping away my tear trail. Gaara sat down on the edge of the bed, and put his hand on my forehead making my blush increase. He lowered his hand back to his side.

"Hn. No fever. Therefore you cannot use that as an excuse for your scream. What is wrong?"

I sighed. He trusted me enough to allow me to call him by his first name. I could at least tell him a little bit.

"I had a nightmare. It was sort of a memory from when I was younger. My…friend…appeared, telling me that if I hadn't let something happen when I was younger my family wouldn't have died. It…it was all my fault."

Gaara 'hned' and then went into thought mode. I stayed silent, leaning against the headboard.

"He was your 'friend'? Are you sure that is all?"

I looked at him, can I trust him, was the only thought running through my head.

"No. He was my…my brother."

"I see. And what happened?"

"What do you mean?"

"To your family."

"Oh…I…I was kidnapped the day of their death. I escaped…but when I got home…my mother and father, and everyone else…everyone else was dead. If I had escaped sooner…the people that killed them must have been looking for me! If I had been there they wouldn't have killed them! They would still be alive…"

I shut my eyes, willing the tears to disappear. I was about to open my eyes again when I felt two strong arms wrap around me. My eyes shot open and I saw deep red hair beside my head. That's when it hit me.

Gaara was hugging me. The kazekage was hugging me. I swear out of all the moments I had blushed they were just a light pink compared to the red I turned. Gaara pulled away, and I prayed that my cheeks would cool down.

"Temari told me that that is appropriate to do when someone seems to be upset."

I nodded absentmindedly, just as I heard footsteps running towards the room. Temari and Kankarou burst through the door, both clad in pajamas, Temari holding her fan and Kankarou prepared with one of his puppets.

"WHAT'S GOING ON?"

Gaara and I just stared at them, and they lowered their weapons.

"We heard a scream. Is everyone alright?" Temari asked.

"H-hai."

"Hn."

Temari and Kankarou stared at us, as if they didn't believe us. And I think Kankarou looked a bit jealous, but then again it was probably just my imagination. Temari started snickering, and Kankarou stormed out of the room for some reason.

"What?"

Temari's snickering went into full blown laughter. I looked around, and then it hit me. This looked very awkward. Me lying in bed beet red, and Gaara sitting on the bed only a few inches from me.

I changed my mind. That was the moment I was most embarrassed. Definitely.

* * *

Shizune looked out the window and studied the village beyond. She then turned to her mistress. "Tsunade… I have a question…"

Tsunade sat at her desk taking another sip from her sake. She decided she needed a brake, no matter how much Shizune bickered about it. "Yes?"

Shizune hesitated before asking. "Why didn't you tell them… I mean Shino's team… well Magen really…"

"Out with it Shizune." Tsunade snapped.

Shizune nodded. "Right. Well I was wondering why you didn't tell them that you knew who the killers were… you knew that one of the villagers found some evidence and sent it to you."

"Yes I know." Tsunade gulped down the rest of her treat and leaned back in her chair.

"Then why didn't you tell them?"

Tsunade sighed. "Because if I told them… Magen would have left on her own, and that would have caused trouble now wouldn't it?"

Shizune blinked in confusion. "Excuse me Tsunade? I don't understand…"

Tsunade closed her eyes and pulled up memories from the back of her mind. "It had been a month since Magen came to Ozu. Ozu was a very close friend of mine. He knew my grandfather when he was a teenager, so I visited him often at his little house in the middle of the forest." Tsunade paused for a moment before continuing. "Anyway… one day I visited him just for the day. Magen was going through her drills, just out of earshot from us. We mostly just talked about her progress."

Shizune nodded, listening intently.

Tsunade continued. "It was then I noticed that Magen was using a different sword for her drills today. It had dark red metal that didn't set right in my stomach. I turned to Ozu and asked him if he made that sword."

"_A week ago…" Ozu began, his eyes became soft and his smile faded. "Magen went back to her village… or what once was her village…"_

_Tsunade gasped. "Why would she do that? Why did you let her!"_

_Ozu help up his hand to motion for Tsunade to calm down. "Magen said that she had lost her necklace and she was certain it was there. She told me she didn't care what she saw, she needed that necklace back…" Ozu sighed. "Well when we got there, the sight was unbearable, but Magen was determined. It was heartbreaking looking at her expression when she saw it for the first time."_

Tsunade frowned as she looked over to Magen, who was now trying to concentrate her chakra into the sword.

"_Well we had finally reached her house. I told her that she had to stay outside. I wouldn't let her go in to see what was there. No matter how much she pleaded, I forbid her to. So I went in myself. As I searched the house for her necklace, I came across her parents room." Ozu inhaled deeply. The image of what he saw was very unsettling. "It was horrible… blood on the walls, the floor, their lifeless bodies…" He shivered. "Then I found a small shimmer in the corner. I assumed it was her necklace so I quickly rushed over to grab it and get out. But once I got close enough, I noticed it wasn't just her necklace but also a long piece of metal laying right next to it. The blood on the cold blade matched the colour of its metal. I knew right away that it was the instrument that the murderers used to kill Magen's parents…"_

Tsunade held back tears that desperately wanted to fall, she felt deep sympathy towards Magen. "So… you took the metal back I assume…?"

Ozu nodded.

_Tsunade looked to the eerie coloured sword Magen now held. It all came together in her mind. "Does Magen know that she is holding the very weapon that killed her parents…?"_

Ozu shook his head. "No. And I feel terrible about it. But I believe it is not the time to tell her. I reformed that metal into a sword for a reason, and I believe Magen will use it wisely."

Shizune nodded. "I get it now." She said. "If you told Magen that the evidence that you have collected from the sight was the very same kind of metal that her sword was created from she would have left on her own to go find the killer…"

Tsunade nodded. "Yes. Once I have retrieved the metal, I researched to find what it was and where it came from. I found out that it belongs to a rare bloodline. A very powerful bloodline. And if Magen went on her own, it is very likely that she would have been killed. That is why I sent Sakura with them… so that if anything does happen, we can rest easy knowing that there is a very gifted medical ninja down there with them."

Shizune was still a bit confused though. "But, if you knew that Magen would soon find out anyways that it was her parents killer that they are after, why did you send her on this mission in the first place?"

Tsunade sat there in silence, thinking over the question. "The truth is… I don't know why I did." She said quietly. "Something inside me told me though… that this was supposed to happen, and if I didn't send Magen down there… then she would have to live her life unsatisfied and empty… revenge is a horrible thing I know… but I don't want another Sasuke mishap happening again."

* * *

Magen P.O.V.

It was the growling of my stomach that made us stop for a brake. I haven't had breakfast that morning and I was hungry. We stopped at a small clearing and settled down for lunch. I leaned against a large tree that stretched to the sky. The other sat on the other side, Sakura and Hinata still chatting away. Well it was mostly Sakura talking while Hinata smiled and nodded.

I sighed after taking another bite from my rice ball. I didn't pack anything special for food for this mission, which I regretted right now. I was really hungry and the contents of Hinata's bento box were looking really good right now. I started to walk over towards Hinata to ask for some food when suddenly, Sakura shouted and pointed towards a large bush.

Sakura then got into a fighting stance as Hinata got to her feet and joined Shino's side. "T-Tiger!" Shouted Sakura.

As Sakura spoke, a large white tiger emerged from the bush. Sakura was just about to attack it until I dashed in front of her, stopping her in her path.

"Magen get out of the way!" Ordered Sakura.

Hinata placed her hand on Sakura's shoulder. "Don't worry Sakura, that is Magen's friend."

"What?" Sakura asked in disbelief.

The large tiger walked to my side, she stood as tall as my waist. "Hello Magen." It said. "Who is your jumpy friend here?"

Sakura slowly lowered her arms, still terrified at the now talking tiger.

"Oh… she's… Sakura? Ya Sakura I think it was." I said. "Why are you here Kira?"

Kira frowned. "Magen… can we talk in private for a moment?"

I looked at her skeptically then turned to the others. Shino nodded. I nodded back and led Kira out of ear shot so she could tell me what she needed to say.

"Alright… what is it? What's wrong?" I asked.

Kira took a seat under a tree and looked up with me with all the seriousness I have ever seen her show. "It is about Mitsuki…"

Immediately I felt my body tense up and my heart rate quicken. "What? What's wrong with her? Is she okay?" I blurted out.

Kira nodded. "She is fine really, don't worry."

I sighed in relief. "Then what is it?"

"She is a mess." Kira said. "When I last saw her, she was causing another one of her storms."

I frowned. "Oh no…what happened?"

Kira shook her head. "I am not exactly sure… She seemed fine at first, she said she was lost." She paused. I shook my head, of course she got lost. "It seemed that she was running away from Suna, she was halfway to the leaf village when I met up with her. She said that she is unable to cut the ties that bind her there… then before I knew it, she broke down in tears, and soon did the sky as well."

My hands tightened into fists. This was all to irritating, and I can't do anything about it. "Mitsuki…" I breathed.

Kira bowed her head. "It wasn't long until the young kazekage boy came and comforted her."

I nodded. At least someone was taking care of her there. I looked down at Kira. "Kira… you have to send her a message from me."

Kira's eyes widened. "Are you crazy! I am not going to become some messenger cat. Do you know how long of a travel that would be?"

I got down on my knees so I sat at her height. "Yes, yes I know! But I have to contact Mitsuki somehow! Please!" I begged.

Kira twitched. "Well what about the gate? They won't let a tiger like me in that village. It's impossible."

"If they do not let you in, keep asking for the kazekage to come out, then give him the message, I am sure he will bring it to Mitsuki. Or even better, if the kazekage does come, ask for him to bring you into the village, so you can stay over night, and watch over Mitsuki."

Kira thought for a moment. "I don't know…"

"Fine… if you don't do it…" I smiled devilishly. "I will get your sister Sasha to do it."

Kira narrowed her eyes. "Fine…" She growled. "But you owe me!"

I nodded gratefully and rushed over to my knapsack and pulled out a paper and pen to write the letter, the other watching me closely. Sakura didn't take her eyes off the tiger the whole time.

'_Dear Mitsuki,'_I wrote.

'_I ran into Kira as you well know now, and she told me everything. It sucks that I am not there with you, but it sounds like this kazekage is taking very good care of you. He better be, or he would have to deal with me. Haha just kidding… well not really. _

_Things down here are pretty hectic. Tsunade is getting on my nerves and Bug face won't get off my back. I'm on a mission right now with this knew girl… her name is Sakura I think… she's was pretty jumpy when she saw Kira, it was funny. Her hair is pink. I've been meaning to ask her if it's natural._

_I have made friends with Hinata though. She's a sweet girl. A little quiet though, but when it comes to romance novels, I can't get her to shut up._

How are things down there? I told Kira to stay there for at least one night to keep an eye on you. It took a lot of begging and a little persuasion to get her to send this. Let's just say I mentioned Sasha, and we all know how competitive those two are.

_Well I have to end this letter quickly, we will be leaving soon and continue on this mission. Write back okay!_

Sincerely

_Magen_

_P.S. _

_Just for the record, Alcohol plus me does not equal anything good._

* * *

There you go! Please review! Nicely!


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